HY2220: Korea in the Twentieth Century Research Paper, NUS, Singapore

HY2220 Korea in the Twentieth Century

Final Paper Options (You are welcome to pick one of the listed examples!)

1. Find a primary source (or more) to analyze Contextualize the source by reading secondary sources. Does it confirm, clarify, or challenge what other scholars have said before? E.g.)
• Read diplomatic documents at the Wilson Center’s database to contextualize how Kim Il Sung was depicted by country X in the 1960s.
• Read more from the sourcebook on New Women in Korea to compare different decades.

2. Find a keyword in newspaper databases (NUS libraries have New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, or others in other languages, if you want, etc.) to utilize it as a primary document. You may analyze how an event or a historical figure in Korea was described and perceived. Does it confirm, clarify, or challenge what other scholars have said before?
E.g.)
• Park Chung Hee’s military coup (1961)
• USS Pueblo (1968)
• Kwangju
• Kim Dae Jung

3. Expand on the movie/fiction response paper Read more scholarly work to better contextualize the work. Watch more movies and/or novels to compare and contrast. E.g.)
• Expand a review of Pachinko by reading more on the difference between Korean Americans and Koreans in Japan.
• Watch more movies on different historical moments and compare how they depict state violence.
• Compare Lost Names and Who Ate Up All Shinga to discuss the memories of colonialism.
• You may select other movies/fictions beyond the suggested list. For this, please consult with the instructors.

4. Find an ongoing controversy over a historical issue of Korea. Identify what’s at stake through historians’ works. You can also compare different interpretations (i.e. historiographical analysis) on any historical issue.
E.g.)
• Why is the Korean supreme court judgment over wartime forced Is labor so controversial?
• Why are the ROK and Japan still disputing over Doktor/Takeshima?
• What is the major difference between North Korean feminism and South Korean feminism?
• What do scholars say about the success or failure of the Kabo Reform?
• What were the similarities and critical differences between the Tonghak rebellion and the Boxer Rebellion?
• Can we compare the “Developmental State” in South Korea and those in other Asian countries?