Below is a selection of our Spring 2024 courses. For a complete list, please visit Course Explorer
EALC 275 | Masterpieces of East Asian Literature
Lectures meet on Monday and Wednesday 16:00 - 16:50 pm with discussion sections held on Friday
EALC 398 BTA | K-Pop: Genre, Identity, Industry, Fandom
Meets 1:15 - 4:00 pm on Mondays via Zoom
This course will be offered through BTAA CourseShare (Ohio State University, Professor Pil Ho Kim) and be taught synchronously utilizing Zoom. This is a graduate-level seminar focused on Korean popular music, specifically (but not limited to) its contemporary incarnation abbreviated to K-Pop. Advanced undergraduate students who are committed to a serious research project on K-Pop will also be allowed to enroll. Though many regard K-Pop as a genre performed by Korean idol dance music artists, they often overlook the ever expanding cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and musical boundaries of K-Pop. In this seminar, we will approach such fundamental questions as “what is the exact meaning of K in K-Pop?” and “what makes K-Pop K-Pop?” from different angles. Increasing multiethnic presence among K-Pop performers, the globalizing nature of K-Pop music production process, the emphasis on ‘Koreanness’ by incorporating traditional musical elements, the close relationship between the K-Pop industry and the South Korean government agencies, K-Pop idols’ public diplomacy, the issues of abuse, exploitation, discrimination, and criminality in the entertainment business, and the impact of K-Pop global fandom on culture and politics will be closely examined through up-to-date academic literature and in-depth media coverage.