Welcome to the Chosŏn History Society!
Why the Chosŏn History Society?
Korean studies, especially premodern studies in the West is still a developing field with few, publicly accessible resources for doing scholarship. The situation is particularly dire for beginners or amateurs, but even scholars with professional training struggle with access.
To give one example, the general, interested public often relies heavily on open-source internet resources, such as Wikipedia, to complement their learning process and to study for exams, but these resources are sometimes quite poorly curated. We see this in the English-language Wikipedia articles concerning Korean history, where the bulk of the articles are low-quality and rely on low-quality source materials.
The problem of access is often thought of in terms of a wider "ivory tower" syndrome, where knowledge is locked inside the academy and inaccessible to a broader, interested audience. We believe, however, this problem can be conceived of in more specific terms, which identify opportunities for us to intervene or ameliorate in concrete ways.
A Crisis of Knowledge
The dire state of the academic job market means that the majority of scholars trained in Korean historical subject matter (i.e. archaeology, literature, art history, history, philology, linguistics) are not generally employed by the academy. Scholars operating outside of the university system are generally poorly connected to research materials or resources, and do not possess adequate and appropriate opportunities to share their research in traditional academic channels. More importantly, scholars outside of the university system are also poorly connected to one another. All of these factors can impact individual career prospects and weaken our ability to expand knowledge production centered around Korea.
There is currently no happy medium between popular and professional means of drawing attention to academic research. New, cutting-edge research is generally unknown to a more general, interested, learned public. At the same time, more popular transmission methods suffer from a perceived lack of intellectual rigor which can vary according to discipline.
Existing academic networks have been weakened by COVID, massively reducing the accessibility of in-person conferences and venues and presenting additional challenges in terms of broadcasting online lectures or calls for papers. This further reduces the chances of participating in networking events or obtaining useful feedback for individual research. Existing academic programming has been adapted to the online environment in a rushed manner for which it was not designed and suffers from a lack of exposure outside of the department or sponsoring association.
A problem that continues to face the study of Korea is the uneven international context of the discipline: research performed in certain regions outside the realm of predominant North American and European academic institutions doesn’t always receive adequate exposure. Consequently, available resources skew towards those with access to such institutions.
Scholarship beyond the Academy
The current situation also exacerbates the “ivory-tower” problem. While much academic research is cloistered behind institutional barriers, scholars working outside of formal academic institutions risk estrangement from wider scholarly communities. The result is an overriding sense that research, especially historical research, is irrelevant beyond the walls of the academy. This situation also fosters a sense that engagement with Korea’s history must be moored to professional academic demands, trends, and obligations. As a result, whole disciplines and time periods can be completely excluded from the academic record or the professional discipline.
The Solution
To address the above, we have created the Chosŏn History Society (CHS), a public learned society fostering the study, research, and teaching of Korea’s past by connecting scholars working both outside and inside the professional academy.
The CHS is a community based on sharing, rather than competition or exclusivity. It provides opportunities for scholars who are operating independently or are otherwise under-resourced to share research and generate in their work. The CHS will also connect these scholars with one another, fostering a network for shared interests. Through talks, workshops, public lectures and other events, CHS will develop and host public resources for the study, research, and teaching of Korea’s past.
Join us and help design society activities and structure going forwards!
Member Categories:
Master’s/PhD Student - You are actively pursuing an advanced degree but are looking to increase your exposure to new, curated research from both inside and outside of traditional academia
Independent Scholar - You are pursuing individual research in the field of Korean studies but are unaffiliated with any particular institution and wish to remain current in your field without financially committing to traditional research
Interested Generalist - You are not actively engaged in academic research but for personal or professional reasons wish to develop your knowledge of a particular field and connect with like-minded individuals
Benefits of Membership:
Access research across multiple mediums
Share your perspective
Grow your network