Korean Studies Research Session for Teaching and Technology

1:00pm - 1:10pm

Registrations

CHAIR: Dr JooYeoul (JY) Ryu

1:20pm - 1:50pm

Research-led Teaching and the Digital Humanities in Korean Studies.

Presenters: Dr Gregory N. Evon (UNSW Sydney)*

[Bio]

Gregory N. Evon is Senior Lecturer at the School of Humanities & Languages, UNSW Sydney. He teaches courses on East Asia, Korea, and Japan, and researches premodern Korea in its broader East Asian context, focusing on Buddhism and literature.

[Abstract

Online premodern Korean sources create vast opportunities for research-led teaching. This presentation examines a course for upper-level students that was built around my research in premodern Korean intellectual history and that combined analog and digital technologies. I gambled that the students would find the materials to be fascinating and a way to refine their reading and analytical skills in Korean. The course was a complete success. This presentation evaluates how the overall hybrid approach with respect to technology and assessment blurred the line between teaching and research to enhance the students’ confidence in their abilities.

1:50pm - 2:20pm

Morphing the Meta into Teaching.

Presenter: Prof. Roald Maliangkay (ANU)*

[Bio]

Roald Maliangkay is Professor in Korean Studies at the Australian National University. He specialises in the history of Korean popular culture and enjoys exploring the consumption of what are commonly considered non-essentials. He is the author of Broken Voices: Postcolonial Entanglements and the Preservation of Korea’s Central Folksong Traditions (2017) and co-editor of K-pop: The international rise of the Korean music industry (2015).

[Abstract]

I recently learned that to help students develop their thesis framework, a colleague always encourages them to consider the “meta” question. In addition to ensuring they take a step back and address the perennial “so what?” question — which both students and academics too often fail to do — he asks them to consider the bigger question their thesis ultimately contributes to, and how. It is an approach that I believe can be applied to contextual teaching more broadly, in lectures, seminars, and tutorials. When I apply this to my teaching on the introduction of time management systems during the colonial period, for example, I can see two possible benefits: on the one hand, it would encourage my students to approach developments in Korea from the viewpoint of the broader, global context of technological innovation or consider what those developments meant to the people involved in these changes at the time. This would essentially entail exploring both the scientific and psychological aspects of modernity. On the other hand, I can ask them to consider the meta questions related to the framework that I have myself been developing. In that way, the approach does not only encourage students to consider the bigger picture of the studies they develop or are learning from — including, crucially, the possible application of what they are studying to aspects well outside Korean studies and even the humanities — but also ourselves.

2:20pm - 2:50pm

Embedding Research Practice into Korean Content Units

Presenter: Associate Prof. Lucien Brown (Monash University)

[Bio]

Lucien Brown is the Korea Foundation Associate Professor in Korean Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He conducts research in pragmatics and sociolinguistics, with a particular focus on Korean honorifics, kinship terms, politeness, and gesture.

[Abstract]

This presentation explores how research activities can be embedded into coursework to enhance student engagement and learning. I focus on the case of the unit ATS2274 Languages, Cultures and Interaction in Asia, where students conduct surveys and short interviews on language learning motivation and identity, analyzing their data and writing up the results as an assessment task. I will also briefly mention other instances from my teaching, such as ATS2160 Korea: Language, People and Culture, where students undertake qualitative analysis of soju advertisements, examining how discourses of gender, nation, and consumer culture are constructed. These cases demonstrate how small-scale projects sharpen analytical skills and make methodological concepts tangible and meaningful.

2:50pm - 3:10pm

Coffee Break

CHAIR: Ms. Danae Smith (Monash University) 

3:10pm - 3:40pm

Languages, Cultures, and Interactions in the Classroom: Research-student Interface in Sociolinguistics and Language Learning

Presenter: Dr Daniel Pieper (Monash University)

[Bio]

Daniel Pieper is Korea Foundation Lecturer and Section Head of Korean Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University. He specializes in modern Korean language and literary history with a focus on vernacularization, linguistic modernity, and language ideologies. His most recent research examines language policy and planning in the post-liberation Koreas and the rise of pluricentric Korean.

[Abstract]In this presentation I will introduce the various methods of integrating research in sociolinguistics and critical pedagogy in Monash's ATS2274 Languages, Cultures, and Interactions in Asia, focusing on four different areas. First, I discuss the introduction of the concept of the Sinographic Cosmopolis, a geo-political linguistic frame for approaching writing practices in East Asia, which sets the tone for the unit and informs my own research. Second, in the unit module related to multi-lingual Asia, I discuss my integration of my linguistic landscape research from South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore, where students compare the usage of Korean and hangul in different contexts as they discuss the concepts of code-mixing, code-switching, and translanguaging. Third, in modules on conversational analysis and learning Asian languages, students are invited to critically reflect on their previous language textbooks and language learning experiences to devise schemes and methods for more effective pedagogy, feedback which has been valuable for me as a language instructor. Finally, in the module on learning Asian languages, students are presented with a case study of two immersive language learning models: English language immersion villages (영어마을) in South Korea and the Korean Language Immersion Camp Lake in the Woods (숲속의 호수) located in Northern Minnesota, USA, the latter at which I taught for two summers. After learning about the two models, students discuss the week's theme of language learning motivation in relation to each of the school’s students and their own motivations. In this unit I thus integrate my own research into the curriculum while inviting critical reflection from students on their own language learning experiences in order to inform my own pedagogy, effectively connecting the language and content aspects of my teaching subjectivity.

3:40pm - 4:10pm

Embedding Curriculum Research in Korean Language Education: 

An Indonesian Case Study

Presenter: Ms. Andi Deasy Hapsari (Universitas Multimedia Nusantara)

[Bio]

Based in Jakarta, Andi Deasy Hapsari is a Korean language lecturer at Universitas Multimedia Nusantara, an interpreter, and a curriculum quality reviewer. Her work bridges Korean language and culture through teaching, translation, and reflective curriculum research, emphasizing research-led, learner-centered, and technology-enhanced approaches to language education.

[Abstract]

This presentation examines how curriculum research is embedded in Korean language teaching in Indonesia through a research-led and technology-supported framework. Drawing on my experience as a lecturer and curriculum quality reviewer for digital learning materials, the session explores how pedagogical decisions are shaped by learner needs, local culture, and iterative content development. It focuses on three interrelated aspects: (1) how digital platforms and visual learning tools (e.g., Notion, Canva, LMS integration) are used to facilitate grammar and vocabulary acquisition; (2) how teacher reflection and micro-level curriculum research inform revisions to instructional design; and (3) how cultural adaptation ensures that Korean language learning remains relevant for Southeast Asian learners. Rather than treating research and teaching as separate processes, this case study highlights their integration in practice, where each teaching cycle becomes an opportunity for data gathering, analysis, and innovation. The presentation contributes to ongoing discussions in research-led teaching by demonstrating how educators in multilingual contexts can use technology and reflective practice to co-create culturally grounded, learner-centered Korean language curricula.

CHAIR: Dr Daniel Pieper (Monash University)

4:10pm - 4:40pm

Exploring the Role of Attention and Executive Function in Korean Language Acquisition Among University Learners.

Presenter: Dr JooYeoul (JY) Ryu (Monash University)

[Bio]

JooYeoul (JY) Ryu is a Lecturer in Korean Studies at Monash University. His main areas of expertise are in effect in foreign language learning, language learner differences, and Asian theatre and drama.

[Abstract]

Foreign language acquisition in adulthood relies heavily on attention and executive function – key cognitive processes that facilitate acquisition, retention, and application of new linguistic knowledge. While there is increasing evidence of the role of attention and executive function in general academic functioning, their specific contribution to foreign language learning remains unexplored. This survey study will use Korean language learning as a model to investigate how university students’ self-reported ability in attention and executive function abilities relate to their perceived proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Participants were Monash University students who had completed at least one semester of Korean language unit. Data was collected through the Qualtrics platform using two validated self-report measures of attention and executive function, and self-rating of perceived skills in different aspects of Korean language learning. Preliminary findings will be presented as well as a discussion about potential inclusive pedagogical strategies to support cognitively diverse learners in the tertiary Korean language education setting, including those with ADHD or mental health conditions. By identifying the cognitive factors that may hinder or facilitate language learning, we aim to develop more inclusive and effective support strategies for diverse Korean language learners in future studies. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of individual differences in cognitive functioning and their impact on academic success in Korean language education.

4:40pm - 5:10pm

Using authentic historical website materials as assessment tasks to generate critical thinking skills.

Presenter: Associate Prof. Andrew David Jackson (MUKSRH), Dr Daniel Pieper (MUKSRH), Dr Hea-jin Park (Curtin University)

[Bio]

Andrew David Jackson is Associate Professor and Director of Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) at Monash University, Melbourne where he has worked since 2017. He also taught Korean Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Prior to this, Andrew worked for 15 years as a teacher of English as a foreign language and teacher trainer in South Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, Quebec and the UK.

Daniel Pieper is Korea Foundation Lecturer and Section Head of Korean Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University. He specializes in modern Korean language and literary history with a focus on vernacularization, linguistic modernity, and language ideologies. His most recent research examines language policy and planning in the post-liberation Koreas and the rise of pluricentric Korean.

Hea-Jin Park is a historian and digital humanities researcher, and the Korean Studies Coordinator at Curtin University. Her current research focuses on the social history of Australia–Korea bilateral relations, including Australian Presbyterian missionaries in Korea, Australian veterans of the Korean War, and Australia’s contribution to Korea through the Colombo Plan.

[Abstract]

Traditionally, in university history classrooms, the essay has been a primary means of developing essential historical processing, critical thinking, and writing skills. The discursive style essay has also been the centrepiece of a course’s assessment regime. Recent improvements in AI Generative technology have made it more challenging for educators to distinguish between essays produced wholly or partially through platforms like ChatGPT. As a consequence, many university teachers are searching for alternative tasks that can help develop content-specific and transferable thinking skills and effectively assess students. In this paper, we present an example of alternative tasks we trialled in our Korean history class to replace traditional discursive style essays. We incorporated authentic historical website (based on Australian Korean War veterans’ oral histories) materials in classroom learning tasks and created a staged iterative feedback loop that helped students construct their own history website as part of their core assessment. These modifications helped students develop critical thinking and historical processing skills. In addition, there was a creative and experiential element to the website construction process.

5:10pm - 5:20pm

Roundtable discussion & Closing remarks.

1:00pm - 1:10pm

Registrations

CHAIR: Dr JY Ryu (Monash University)

1:10pm - 1:20pm

Introduction to Decolonising Korean Studies.
Presenters: Dr. Hyein Cho (Monash University); Assoc. Prof Lucien Brown (Monash University)

[Bio]
Hyein Ellen Cho is a lecturer in Korean Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics and a key researcher at the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre. Her main areas of expertise are on gender-based violence, migration and gender equality policies and practices.

Lucien Brown is Korea Foundation Associate Professor in Korean Studies at Monash University. He is a sociocultural linguist who looks at the ways in which the Korean language, alongside multimodal resources, is used to create social identities and social meanings. He is Editor of Korean Linguistics and Associate Editor of Journal of Pragmatics.

[Abstract]
There is much discussion these days at universities in Australia and beyond about the need to “decolonise the curriculum.” But often there is the feeling that such discussions only scratch the surface, and also follow simplistic definitions of what it means to decolonise. In this talk, which introduces this event on “decolonising teaching and research in Korean studies,” we argue that attempts to decolonise our discipline first of all require detailed reflection on what such endeavours actually involve in the context of Korean Studies.

1:20pm - 1:50pm

Decolonising on Multiple Fronts: Striking a Balance between Subaltern Voice and Totalising Narratives

Presenter: Dr. Daniel Pieper (Monash University)

[Bio]
Daniel Pieper is the Korea Foundation Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Korean Studies and the Director of Korean Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He specializes in modern Korean language and literary history with a focus on vernacularisation, linguistic modernity, and language ideologies.

[Abstract]
Due to Korea’s complex modern history of subjugation to a non-European colonial power and semi-colonial Cold War entanglement, decolonising the curriculum in the Korean context does not simply mean decentring European influence as in most colonial contexts. Rather, it concerns readdressing the Japanese colonial legacy, re-evaluating the American and Sino-Soviet influences on the respective Koreas, while simultaneously challenging the domination of the Seoul-centric, ROK-based narrative on Korean Studies propagation worldwide. Despite the global spread and popularity of Korean language and culture, there is still an entrenched dichotomy between Korea-based and international Korean Studies curriculum. Thus, the issue becomes not so much the decolonising of a “corrupted” yet shared understanding of Korean Studies, but the breakdown of a naeguk/oeguk (domestic/foreign) dichotomous paradigm of Korean Studies toward an integrated, multifaceted, multilingual, and diversified approach to Korean Studies.

1:50pm - 2:20pm

Coloniality and Decoloniality in Korean Development Studies

Presenter: Dr. Jae-Eun Noh (Australian Catholic University) - via Zoom

[Bio]
Dr Jae-Eun Noh is a Research Fellow at the Australian Catholic University. Her research has explored development policies and practices from human rights perspectives. Jae-Eun’s recent publications on Korea include Korean aid for global justice (2025), coloniality and decoloniality of 'comfort women' activism (2024), development ethics in Korea (2023), emotions in Korean aid (2023), Korean practitioners’ emotions for reflexivity (2022), Korea’s cosmopolitan nationalism (2022), and Korean migrants’ activism (2022). She is currently working on a global health project to advance the understanding of solidarity.

[Abstract]
The colonial roots and legacy of ‘development’ have been widely discussed. However, most critiques have focused on Western donor countries due to their colonial histories, savior complex, and white supremacy. Korea has positioned itself as an ‘empathetic postcolonial donor’, highlighting its history of experiencing colonization and extreme poverty. Nevertheless, Korean discourse on development continues to reflect both historical and ongoing coloniality by adopting Western approaches to modernity, growth and knowledge production. By examining the potential of decoloniality in relation to ‘power, knowledge and being’, this presentation proposes deconstructing and reconstructing perspectives on development and the generation of knowledge about it.

2:20pm - 2:50pm

Coffee Break

CHAIR: Ms. Michelle Correa (Curtin University) - via Zoom

2:50pm - 3:20pm

The Dread of Japanese Colonial Influence in Korean Studies.

Presenter: Dr. Gregory N. Evon (UNSW Sydney) - via Zoom

[Bio]
Gregory N. Evon is Senior Lecturer at the School of Humanities & Languages, UNSW Sydney. He teaches courses on East Asia, Korea, and Japan, and researches premodern Korea in its broader East Asian context, focusing on Buddhism and literature.

[Abstract]
Modern scholarship in the Korean humanities began in the early 20th century under Japanese colonialism (1910-1945). That fact continues to shape scholarship to this day and is especially pronounced in historical scholarship and the drive to debunk the views of Japanese scholars which are typically assumed to have been biased. At the same time, Korean scholars worked under Japanese colonial influence in terms of limitations (e.g., censorship) and benefits (e.g., increasing availability of printed materials). This presentation outlines some of the key features of the Japanese colonial legacy on Korean scholarship through an examination of two major works on the history of Korean Buddhism by a Korean and a Japanese scholar. It concludes by suggesting that “decolonisation,” however well intentioned, is a fraught exercise.

3:20pm - 3:50pm

Decolonising North Korean Studies

Presenter: Ms. Jasmine Barrett (University of Melbourne) - via Zoom

[Bio]
Jasmine Barrett is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on people with disabilities in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) looking at the framing of disability in state media.

[Abstract]
North Korea is a fiercely anti-colonial state placing independent sovereignty at the centre of its founding ideology and national narrative.  In addition, the isolated nature of North Korea functions to severely limit the inclusion of DPRK scholars in international academia, resulting in much research on North Korea being conducted by outsiders.  This presentation raises aspects of the way research on North Korea is funded, conducted, and published, which could be described as colonial, and offers suggestions of how practices could be decolonised to become more respectful of North Korean culture and sense of identity.

CHAIR: Assoc. Pro Lucien Brown (Monash University)

3:50pm - 4:20pm

De-colonizing the curriculum on North Korea: Moving beyond the headlines, Shifting the focus onto DPRK women

Presenter: Assoc. Prof Andrew David Jackson (Monash University)

[Bio]
Andrew David Jackson is Associate Professor and Director of Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) at Monash University, Melbourne where he has worked since 2017. He is the author of The Musin Rebellion: Politics and Rebellion in Eighteenth-Century Korea published with the University of Hawai`i Press (2016), and The Late and Post-dictatorship Cinephilia Boom and Art Houses in South Korea published by Edinburgh University Press (2023). He is currently working on a history of social unrest in Korea.

[Abstract]
This paper follows on from Jasmine Barrett’s paper by looking at some of the challenges facing North Korean researchers and those who attempt to use their research in the classroom. In the paper, I argue that research on many aspects of North Korean society is still strongly influenced by (1) Cold War discourses that stress national priorities and (2) popular media representations of the country that favour coverage of male elites and foreign relations over the experiences of the general population, especially women. I argue that DPRK studies should be reframed to focus on women and their role in the fundamental socio-economic changes that occurred in post-famine North Korea. Students sometimes appear to resist teaching that stresses anything other than these more common understandings of the DPRK. I conclude by recommending a suitable book for educating students on the country.

4:20pm - 4:50pm

Teaching Colonialism in Korea and Australia

Presenter: Dr. Alexander M. Hynd (University of Melbourne)

[Bio]
Alexander M. Hynd, Ph.D., is a Lecturer at the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute, where he teaches Korean Politics and International Relations. Alexander's research examines the identities and strategies of second tier Indo-Pacific states, with a particular focus currently on three contemporary issues: the green energy transition, nuclear non-proliferation, and weaponised trade. His recent work has been published by outlets including International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, and Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space.

[Abstract]
Korea and Australia both experienced settler colonialism, but their contemporary debates over its legacies have diverged. Teaching of colonialism in higher education contexts in each state varies considerably, in terms of empirical content, theories, and pedagogical tools. For example, in Australia discussions of the East Asian experience are frequently marginalised. And teaching of contemporary debates over the legacies of colonialism in South Korea and Australia – (친일파) collaborators’ wealth and Australia Day, respectively – has not yet been compared. I plan to identify and survey higher education teachers in both states to compare best practices in how they approach teaching of colonialism.

[Presentation cancelled]

Rethinking “Standard Korean”: Language Ideology and Diversity in South Korea

Presenter: Dr. Eunseon Kim (ANU)

[Bio]
Eunseon Kim is Lecturer and Program Convenor for the Korean Language Program at the School of Culture, History and Language, in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. Her current research involves the historical construction of linguistic ideologies regarding Korean honorification. She explores public metalinguistic discourses over what linguistic politeness means to Koreans and how it should work in society.

[Abstract]
South Korea is often perceived as an ethnically and linguistically homogeneous nation, which reinforces the perception of a stable connection between "Korean" identity and the Korean language. This belief renders the legitimacy of the Korean language largely unquestioned in Korean Studies and language education. To challenge this national-oriented perspective, this paper examines the "standard Korean" (p’yojunŏ) myth shaped by South Korea's language policies. By critiquing standard language ideology, it highlights the marginalisation of non-mainstream linguistic varieties within and beyond the Korean Peninsula and advocates for a broader understanding of Korean that embraces linguistic diversity.

4:50pm - 5:00pm

Roundtable discussion & Closing remarks.