Global Chosŏn Initiative Whitepaper
August 28, 2024
Heejin Lee
Jeanhyoung Soh
Sixiang Wang
During the summer of 2024, members of the Chosŏn History Society team held several discussions in Korea about the future of Korean history in North America. These discussions included a five-hour working meeting with The Chosŏn Dynasty History Association (Chosŏn sidae sahakhoe 조선시대사하회 https://www.chosonhistory.or.kr/), a three-hour interview with Kyosu shinmun (교수신문 https://www.kyosu.net/), as well as conversations with university faculty, graduate students, and independent scholars.
These discussions point to a general need for greater communication and exchange in the fields of Korean historical studies. Compared to other fields in Korean studies, historians of Korea, and in particular those working on pre-19th-century topics, could benefit from more extensive transnational and interdisciplinary connections. There is an urgent need for scholars in Korea and outside of Korea to become better acquainted with each other's methodologies, historiographical paradigms, intellectual priorities, and scholarly conventions. Scholars in Korea could also benefit from understanding better the working environments of their colleagues in Western-language academic institutions. In particular, younger generations of scholars trained in both in and outside of Korea can stand to benefit from working more closely together in order to help globalize the field of premodern Korean studies.
To address the above needs, Chosŏn History Society proposes launching a Global Chosŏn Initiative that will promote interchange between scholars primarily publishing in Korean language and those primarily publishing in major western languages (English, French, German, Spanish etc.). At this stage, the Global Chosŏn Initiative will take the form of annual workshops, alternating between Korea-based academic host institutions and western-based (US, EU, Canada etc.) academic host institutions.
Given the precarity of institutional support for the humanities (Korean history, esp. premodern history included), we believe it is important for the initiative to circulate among different institutions rather than be limited to a single permanent host.
Goals of Workshop
The goals of each Global Chosŏn Initiative workshop are as follows:
- Promote interchange between Korean history scholars working in different areas
- Exchange methodological approaches, introduce historiographical paradigms, and address common historical problems
- Promote mutual understanding of professional norms, scholarly conventions, publication processes, and standards of scholarship in different academic environments and communities.
- Identify potential common directions of collaboration which may include co-edited volumes, co-authored papers, journal special issues, sourcebooks, future conferences, and meetings.
Workshop Format
The Global Chosŏn Initiative workshop follows a regular, standard template ever year:
- Each workshop will take place over 1.5 days.
- Each workshop will have a SPECIFIC and focused historical issue, source, or theme decided by the Global Chosŏn Initiative committee appointed by the Chosŏn History Society board.
- Each year, the workshop will take place at a host academic institution, selected by the Global Chosŏn Initiative. Workshops should alternate between Korea-based and non-Korea-based institutions.
- A representative of the host institution from the current year will be a member of the Global Chosŏn Initiative committee.
- Each workshop will involve a small participant group of six to eight scholars. Three to four scholars publish primarily in Korean, with three to four publishing primarily in a Western language. The participants will be selected by the Global Chosŏn Initiative committee.
- Each workshop will be conducted in a combination of English and Korean. No simultaneous translation will be expected.
- Workshop participants should involve a combination of junior (graduate students, independent scholars, postdocs, non-full-time scholars), and senior scholars (full-time tenure-track and tenured).
- Each workshop should reflect the gender distribution of the field of study.
- Workshop audience can be open or closed at the discretion of the host institution.
Funding Plan
The Global Chosŏn Initiative will be funded by a combination of donations, grants, and support from the hosting institution.
Hosting Institution Responsibilities
- Hosting institution should provide the following
- access to an appropriate meeting space
- audio/visual and digital technology support
- meals and beverages for speakers
- logistical support for lodging and travel
- invitation letters for visa purposes
- Estimated Budget: ~ 3000-4000 USD
- Additional support:
- The hosting institution is encouraged to provide travel support for junior scholars who are participating in the event.
- Hosting institution should provide the following
Participant Travel Funds
- Participating scholars who have access to their own institutional research funds are encouraged use them to fund travel to the meeting
Chosŏn History Society Responsibilities
- Chosŏn History Society will designate a coordinator for each year's iteration of the Global Chosŏn Initiative
- Chosŏn History Society will fundraise for the Global Chosŏn Initiative
- Target funding level: $10,000 (2025–2028)
- Funds can be used for:
- Subsidizing travel and lodging for junior scholars
- Providing travel and lodging support for scholars traveling internationally
- Providing honorarium for speakers or organizers
- Offsetting costs for host institutions
- Providing research support for participants (e.g. translation, editing)
- Providing research support for publication production (e.g. indexing, map-making, subventions, journal fees)
- Overhead and administrative costs for Global Chosŏn Initiative (e.g. website, fees etc.)
