Date Thesis Awarded

5-2016

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

Interdisciplinary Studies

Advisor

Francis Tanglao-Aguas

Committee Members

R. Benedito Ferrao

Joanne Braxton

Stephen Sheehi

Abstract

My honors thesis is a teaching project on the topic of “Understanding North Korea in the Korean Diaspora,” which is designed to be part of Korean American Diaspora Studies (KADS), a class taught in spring 2016 at the College of William and Mary, or as a short individual class for Korean American and non-Korean American college students. I designed and developed this course and honors thesis to provide teachers and students with the opportunity to teach and learn about North Korea beyond preconceptions and stereotypes, which are constructed and maintained by the mainstream culture, by digging out the buried and neglected narratives of the marginalized North Korean people in a diasporic context. I argue that this course, Understanding North Korea in the Korean Diaspora, challenges the hegemonic education system in America and dominant framework of teaching and learning by deconstructing the historical knowledge about North Korea. While learning to resist against and challenge the dominant system, students in this course practice agency and learn to mobilize their communities as leaders.

Recommended Citation

Hong, So Dam, "Understanding North Korea in the Korean Diaspora: Teaching North Korea to American Students" (2016). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 899.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/899