IAH 211B/Spring 2008/ Professor Catherine Ryu (LL)
Politics of Cultural Identity: Reinventing 'Korea' in the Global World

In this course we investigate the ways in which Korea´s past and present, and even future, are selectively evoked in the construction and negotiation of Korea´s national identities in the contemporary era.

On January 14, 2008, Professor Catherine Ryu took her IAH 211B class to Korea House to taste delicious Korean food (six or seven different kinds) and to learn basic Korean (food-related expressions).

Based on this experience the students write an essay about their experience of Korean cuisine, including an analysis of the interior decor of the restaurant in terms of the constructed form of commercialized Korean-American cultural identity. The Asian Studies Center sponsored the event, and Professor Ok-Sook Park gave the Korean language lesson.