SOCI 209 - Understanding the World through Korean Popular Culture

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

(Same as ASIA 209) Since the dawn of the 21^st century, South Korean popular culture has garnered growing global attention especially among young people across various countries. Its examples range from K-dramas, K-pop music, K-beauty (cosmetics) and K-food to film and E-sports. Audiences and fans commonly consume these cultural products for leisure and entertainment. At the same time, the transnational production, circulation and consumption of the popular culture also reveal important features and underlying dynamic of the world in which we are living. By using selected examples of Korean popular culture, this course illuminates the following features and dynamic: 1) Societies dominated by celebrities, 2) Capitalist economies selling desires and fantasies, 3) Cultural identities, food, and tourism 4) Neoliberalism as a dominant mode of ruling. Seungsook Moon.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS