Gender, Family, and Social Change in South Korea

This module provides a broad overview of Korean history and literature beginning in the Joseon period, focusing on social and cultural transformations that impacted gender relations, starting with Confucianism. It covers the colonial period, emergence of the New Woman, Korean Civil War, and female employment in post-war South Korea.

This module introduces the strategically gendered division of roles in making modern Korean families and contemporary changes in the perception of marriage and family in Korea. It covers topics such as manager mothers, changed family structure, singletons, and the globalization of Korean families.

This module examines topics including cosmetic surgery, male circumcision, and body lines to understand how female and male beauty standards and aesthetics have changed over the past two centuries. It also covers the impact of neoliberalism on Korean society and beauty standards.

This module discusses issues of sexualities in contemporary Korea, ranging from the relationship between family and sexuality, commodified sexuality, to the issues of sexual minorities. It covers topics such as commercialization of sexuality and the status of sexual minorities in Korea.

This module provides an overview of current positive changes in Korea related to gender and discusses impending issues of contemporary feminist movement and comfort women. It concludes the lecture series with a discussion on future prospects for gender equality in Korea.