Highlights of MUKSRH and the 2017-2022 AKS Core Universities Project

‘Creating a Nexus at Monash for a Stronger Korean Studies in Melbourne and the Metropolitan Region'

December 19, 2022 was the last day of the 2017-2022 AKS Core Universities Project, ‘Creating a Nexus at Monash for a Stronger Korean Studies in Melbourne and the Metropolitan Region.' Thanks to the generous support of the AKS KSPS and the hard work of all our Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) team members and our students, the project has greatly helped develop Monash Korean Studies. Here are a few of the highlights of MUKSRH's five-year project:

Education

In terms of education, the past five years of Core support, we have seen

  • the number of Korean Studies students grow from 600 to over 800,
  • the number of HDR students has grown from 0 to 6 over the course of the grant.

We have supported:

  • 3 PhD students to continue their studies (1, 2, 3)
  • 8 RA positions for HDR students to give them valuable experience
  • 2 AKS indigenous awards for Korean Studies students
  • 4 paid training sessions (Research Session for Teaching and Technology) for our Korean language teaching associates
  • the establishment and administration of 3 language exchange programmes with universities in Korea (2020-2022) to improve the Korean language ability and intercultural competence of our students
  • the Korean conversation circles programme which helps provide our Korean Studies students with valuable mentoring and teaching experience
  • 35 Korea-related internships and Korean teaching assistantships for our current students and 2 internship positions for our Korean Studies graduates to provide vital connections for employment
  • talks on employment from employers. This has included careers week events in 2021 and 2022 which featured talks from alumni working in business to improve the prospects of our students in the job market
  • 3 publication projects that directly involve our students thus giving them valuable research experience and publication credits
  • the creation of vital language learning materials for our Korean language teaching units
  • collaboration with the VARS (Virtual Augmented Reality) unit to create innovative interactive Korean language learning materials
  • the language study of our students in South Korea.

Monash VARS & AKBC Internships 2022

Monash Korean Studies Teaching Assistants 2019-2022

Research 

In terms of research, over the past five years of Core support Core project has supported:

  • the creation of the Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) dedicated to the expansion of research into Korean language, history and culture at Monash University
  • the publication of 4 books (1, 2, 3, 4) with 2 other monographs currently under contract and 1 translated volume scheduled for publication in December 2022.
  • the publication of 12 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters with 3 more scheduled for publication this year.
  • 3 postdoctoral research positions
  • 8 research assistants who are working on current publication projects
  • the creation of a new Korean Studies website producing content directly related to the research interests of MUKSRH and that also provides a platform for our students to display their work. The content of these website pages will also be used in future book publications. These pages include pages dedicated to the understanding of Korea popular culture (The Story of the Song… the Story Behind the Song; Your K-drama Review; My K-Culture Podcasts; 100 Korean Films to See Before You Die), Korean History (On this day in Korean history), and Korean language (Learn Korean idioms with MKS)

MUKSRH research projects and book publications

Engagement

In terms of engagement, we have organized:

  • 33 academic seminar sessions dedicated to the understanding of Korean history, culture and society
  • 3 biennial research workshops (2018, 2020, 2022) aimed at fostering closer collaboration with Korean Studies researchers at other Victorian universities
  • cultural programmes for the Monash MBA programme
  • 2 international Korean Studies conferences as well as 1 international ECR-HDR students conference
  • 3 Korea Weeks promoting Korean culture and contributed to this year’s Languages Week
  • 5 Korean speech contests
  • a regional and international engagement programme that has co-organized events with local schools and universities in Vietnam to promote greater understanding about Korea.

Korea Week 2019-2022

Thanks to all the team members who have made this project so successful over the past five years.