1. General information:

 

The three-year BA major course which started during the winter semester 2005/06 has been developing successfully. The attraction for the 180 credit points (CP) mono-bachelor programme as well as for the 30 CP and 60 CP Korean language and Korean studies packages for students of other majors is growing steadily. At the moment, there are about 90 students enrolled at the department, 45 of them majors, and another 20 to 30 students are expected for the new academic year, starting in October 2008. A historic moment was this year in July when the first student, Jan Janowski, handed in his BA thesis (an analysis of Park Geun-hye’s political activities), thereby becoming the first student to complete the BA course at our department.

On 1 October 2008 the new head of department will be appointed, ending a long time application procedure. Then the door will be open for further development, first of all an MA course should be brought on the way which could probably start in autumn 2009.

 

During the academic year 2007/08 several special lectures had been held at the Korean Studies Department: Yang-Sook Gründel: Yulgok and Sin Saimdang – The Flowering of Neo-Confucian Culture in Korea; Dr Helga Picht (former professor at Humboldt University Berlin): Commemoration for the Great Korean Author Park Kyungni; Dr Dieter Eikemeier (former professor at Tübingen University): On the Matter of Filial Piety in Korean Shamanistic Myths; Dr Guy Podoler (Department of Asian Studies, University of Haifa, Israel): Japan through Korean Eyes – the Role of the Press: Opinion Polls and Political Caricatures; and Lee Eun Sook: Vanished Berlin Wall – Life and Works of a Korean-German Artist.

 

A highlight was the „Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften” [Long Night of Sciences 2008] on 14 June 2008, a large-scale night-long academic event with more than 100 universities, colleges and non-university research institutes which open their lab doors, lecture halls and scientific collections to the public. After our successful debut last year, the Korean Studies Department again participated in the event as an independent institution with an overwhelming response of about 400 visitors. A programme was offered under the motto „Experience Korea with all of your senses“, which included two special lectures on Korean Zen Buddhism (Chon Namhee) and modern Korean literature (Dr Sonja Häußler and Dr Lee Yunkyoung), a Korean calligraphy performance (Byong Oh Sunim), a students’ report on experiences of one year study at Yonsei University and at Korea University, a film quiz as well as a Samulnori and a Kimchi workshop.

 

Scholars’ Reports

 

Dr Holmer Brochlos has been acting as the interim head of department, representing the chair for Korean Studies, until the regular professor (W3, the highest level professorship in Germany) is appointed. He taught language courses (Korean I – V), Introduction into Korean History, Introduction into Korean Studies and a high-level seminar Language Usage in North Korea. During the report period, he took part in the “1^st European Korean Instructors’ Workshop” in Warsaw (7-9 September 2007) and in the “1^st International Translators’ Conference” in Seoul (13-15 September 2007), holding a lecture on “Present and Future of Educating Korean Literature Translators”. He also participated in the workshop “Germany after Reunification and Korea toward Reunification. ROK’s New North Korean Policy and German Experience”, jointly organized by the Korean Department of Free University and the Institute for East and West Studies of Yonsei University on 7 April 2008, holding a lecture on “This Year’s North Korean Policy Perspectives as Seen through the 1 January Joint Editorial”. On 28 June 2008 he participated in the workshop organized by the German-Korean Society in Berlin on the topic of “Economic Policy of the New Korean Government – Perspectives for Korean-German Cooperation”, giving a presentation on “The Future of North-South-Relations after the Inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak Government”.

 

Chon Namhee (전남희), MA, who has been with the department as a part-time lecturer for several years, taught language courses on all levels. During the “Long Night of Sciences 2008” event she held a lecture on Korean Zen Buddhism.

 

Dr Sonja Häußler taught two high-level seminars on the “History of Confucianism in Korea” as part-time lecturer in the winter term of 2007/08. In the summer term of 2008 she worked as Korea Foundation guest professor at the Free University taking over the teaching responsibilities of the former guest professor, Dr Park Kyu-hwan. Her courses were on the following subjects: Regional History and Regional Culture (2 h mid-level seminar), Biographical Excursion into Modern Korean History (4 h high-level seminar), Introduction into Korean Politics and Economy (lecture). In the report period she gave a presentation on “Teaching the Way through Artistic Medium: Some Remarks on Yi Hwangs Poetry” at the 21^st International Conference on Toegye Studies in Seoul (26−27 October, 2007). She also participated as discussant at the joint workshop “Germany after Reunification and Korea toward Reunification. ROK’s New North Korean Policy and German Experience” organized by the Korean Department of Free University and the Institute for East and West Studies of Yonsei University on April 07, 2008. Together with Dr Lee Yunkyoung she gave a public lecture on “Generational Change in Modern Korean Literature” in the academic event “Long Night of Sciences” held for Berlin citizens at the Free University Berlin on June 14, 2008.

 

Hur Joon-young (허준영), MA, a post-graduate student, has continued teaching courses in combination with Korean films. During the report period he taught mid-level seminars on The Relations between North and South Korea as Reflected in Korean Films and Dynamic Korea: Integration and Integration Policy. He was also responsible for the film quiz at the “Long Night of Sciences” event.

 

Dr Kim Eun-Hee (김은희), from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, has been with the department as a part-time lecturer for Korean language courses.

 

Dr Lee Yunkyoung (이윤경), who is a specialist on comparative literature, taught two mid-level seminars on Cultural Contact between the Own and the Alien and on Korean Literature since the 1960ies in Comparison. Together with Dr Häußler she gave a lecture on Generational Change in Modern Korean Literature during the “Long Night of Sciences” event.

 

Dr Park Kyu-hwan (박규환)had been appointed as a guest professor with the generous support of The Korea Foundation from September 2006 until February 2008. During the report period he taught Introduction into Korean Culture, a mid-level seminar Human Rights in Korea and a high-level seminar Biographical Excursion into Modern Korean History.

 

Dr Son Gi-Woong (손기웅), from the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), was with the department during summer semester 2008. He taught a mid-level seminar on Division and Unification of the Korean Peninsula.

Publications:

 

Dr Brochlos, Holmer:

 

• Gegenwart und Zukunft der Ausbildung von Übersetzern koreanischer Literatur (Hangukmunhak pônyôkkyoyugûi hyônjaewa mirae). In: Yurôbesôûi hangukmunhwa suyonggwa chônmang (Korean Culture in Europe: Achievements and Prospects). Ed. KLTI, Seoul 2007, vol. II, pp. 530 – 549
• Korea-Studien – Studien mit Leidenschaft. In: Koreana 3/2007, pp. 80 – 81
• Yoo Bum-joo: Vögel Koreas (Birds of Korea). Translation from Korean. Aula-Verlag Wiebelsheim 2007, 375 pp.
• Der Bahnhof Sapyeong (Sapyeong Station), by Lim Chul-Woo. Translation from Korean. In: Die Erde des Vaters (Father’s Land). Short stories by Lim Cul-Woo. Pendragon-Verlag, Bielefeld 2007, pp. 97 – 127

 

Häußler, Sonja

 

• “Teaching the Way through Artistic Medium: Some Remarks on Yi Hwangs Poetry”. Toegye Studies and the Leadership for the 21^st Century. ed. The International Toegyehak Society, Seoul: Kǔl ingnǔndǔl, 2007, pp. 131−16.