Ever wonder why some protesters in South Korea wave the Star-Spangled Banner while others set it on fire? Or why the wartime operational control of the South Korean military still rests with the US, almost seventy years after the Korean War? How did the US president “fall in love” with the North Korean leader in 2018 and why did this brief bromance fall apart?

ASIAN/AMCULT 277 is a course that reflects on America's place in the rapidly changing world through the lens of its engagements with the two Koreas. Behind the bewildering questions in the headlines lies a complex political history that spans more than a century. We will focus on the seventy-year period stretching from Harry Truman’s presidency to Donald Trump’s, during which the US played a decisive role in dividing the Korean peninsula in half, fought a catastrophic war on the Korean soil, and emerged as both South Korea’s most important ally and North Korea’s enemy number one. In thus “shaping” Korea, the US was shaped irrevocably in turn, even if the full impact on America of these engagements were not always acknowledged or even realized.

The most conventional approaches to understanding this history have been political and/or economic, but our course will provide a more nuanced and multilayered overview by pairing history readings with thematically focused works of fiction and film. We will also examine primary sources including government documents, and learn to critically compare contrasting interpretations of historical events. A particular emphasis will be placed on examining under-questioned American assumptions about its place in the world. We will also pay close attention to how Koreans have perceived the underlying patterns structuring the relations between the US and the two Koreas from the end of WWII to the present, and how such perceptions continue to shape Korean society today.

Intended Audience:

Students at all levels interested in Korean history, East Asian history, US history, and international relations

Class Format:

Two 90-minute lectures in addition to 1-hour discussion section weekly