Korea Initiative

History of
Korean Studies
at UW-Madison

Initiative Goals

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Korea Initiative

Korea Initiative Goals

The Korea Initiative at the Center for East Asian Studies pursues long-term goals in support of building and maintaining the UW-Madison as a regional leader in East Asian Studies, and short-term goals in support of establishing an immediate presence for Korean Studies among the faculty.

Long-term Goals

The Korea Initiative will enable the UW to build and maintain its status as the regional leader in East Asian Studies by:

* Developing and integrating Korean Studies with the existing strengths in Japanese and Chinese Studies.
* Increasing undergraduate education through increased course offerings, degree options, fellowships and study abroad opportunities.
* Supporting greater development of graduate education and faculty research relating to Korea through scholarship and fellowship opportunities.
* Increasing outreach programs to educate the public about Korea.
* Establishing institution-to-institution connections between the UW and Korean universities, and facilitating faculty-to-faculty exchange as well.
* Establishing new tenure-track positions in Korean Language, Literature, and Thought, and in other Korean humanities and social sciences such as Sociology, Anthropology, and Political Science.

Short-Term Goals

The first fruit of the Korea initiative was achieved mid-Spring semester when we successfully obtained a $750,000 grant from the Korea Foundation to endow a Korea Foundation Professor in Korean Studies, which will be housed in the History Department. Our next steps are to:

* Establish a permanent, tenure-track position in Korean Language and Linguistics or Korean Language and Literature.
* Solidify permanent funding for a full four years of Korean Language instruction.
* Develop funding for continuing visiting positions in Korean Social Sciences and Humanities while working to raise funds toward the tenure-track positions listed under Long-Term Goals.
* Establish additional study abroad programs and other forms of collaboration with Korean universities.