Mentor: Haesook Chae, Department of Political Science
Students: Tiffany Lynn Carwile, ’04; Scott Damberger ’03; Dylan S. Davis, ’03

Research trip to South Korea postponed to Summer 2004 because of 2003 SARS Crisis

Abstracts of Reflections and/or Research

Haesook Chae

Our three-week stay in Seoul had a memorable impact on the entire team. My students were introduced to a society that was completely foreign to them and I was reacquainted with a society which has been profoundly transformed since I left it many years ago. In addition to supervising two research projects, I was able to explore my own research interest on the success of the South Korean women’s movement. Thus the trip opened up a great opportunity for me to study the remarkable achievements of this movement.

Research Abstract: I supervised two projects: Anti-Americanism in South Korea and Teaching English in Korea. The anti-Americanism project could not have been more relevant and timely given the recent happenings in South Korea and the US decision to pull out a third of its troops from the demilitarized zone. The survey went very well. With the generous help of several Korean professors and graduate students we were able to administer our questionnaire to more than 1000 students. In addition to the survey, Scott and Tiffany interviewed many South Korean college students with the help of interpreters. This gave them an in-depth understanding about the causes of anti-Americanism in South Korea. We came home with a successfully completed data set.

Regarding the Teaching English in Korea project, Dylan developed insightful interview questions using his own experience as an English teacher in Korea. He reports that: “To date I have done in-depth interviews with 28 native-English teachers representing every province and from each of the major channels they come through. My final paper will address three aspects: 1) the initial foreign experience in Korea, motivations for coming, and preliminary issues; 2) the different channels and programs a foreigner can come to Korea to teach English through; 3) overall life in Korea related to race, gender, nationality, what has caused particular foreigners to stay or leave Korea, and how English education can be improved in Korea in relation to their utilization in Korean educational institutions.” His in-depth interviews of many English teachers will certainly shed light on the important issue of cultural interactions between these teachers and Koreans. I expect he will make an important contribution to this yet unexplored field.

Tiffany Lynn Carwile
Anti-Americanism in South Korea

The experience of traveling to Korea was wonderful. My understanding of Asia has increased, and I still desire to learn more about Korean and Asian history and culture. The trip helped me better understand the things I had learned and helped me to appreciate the intricacies of individual cultures.

However, between the time when we applied for the grant and the time we left, my career path had changed. I now want to practice constitutional law in the United States and to become a federal judge. Still, I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to travel to Korea. I have had an opportunity that many people do not get to experience. My understanding of Asia has increased, and I still desire to learn more about Korean and Asian history and culture. Although I will not be up to another long flight for some time, if I have the chance, I would like to explore more of Asia and experience its history and culture firsthand.

Scott Damberger
Anti-Americanism in South Korea

I am very grateful to the ASIANetwork for providing me with the opportunity to accumulate the wealth of experience I have attained from this trip. The breadth and value of my experiences in South Korea are too diverse and numerous to recount in detail and, as with my past experiences, I’m confident that I am unaware as to the full impact of these experiences. As time distances me from them, I’ll gain a richer understanding of their evolving value as well as see where I gained experiences of which I am currently unaware.

This trip will have a large impact on my career plans. Previously, I wanted to be involved with helping people whose lives have been affected by poverty and the injustices of violence and warfare. After witnessing the violence US soldiers are committing against Korean civilians, as well as witnessing the plight of the Korean families living in the countryside, I understand that in order to help these people I have two options. I could go to South Korea and help buffer the suffering of the families in the Korean countryside. However, to actually help them alleviate their poverty and stop the violence they have to endure, the mission cannot be conducted in the Korean countryside, but rather on capital hill.

Dylan S. Davis
English Teachers in South Korea

I am very thankful for the opportunity to have received an ASIANetwork Freeman grant to pursue research in Korea. While Korea is not a new country to me, due to my having spent the past year here as a Fulbright fellow and now working at the Fulbright Commission in Seoul, this research allowed me the opportunity to look at myself and put things into perspective as a foreigner living in a country that has traditionally been wary of foreigners. Hearing about Korea for such a length of time through the experiences of other foreigners, many of whom have been here much longer than me, allowed room for significant personal growth and understanding. My understanding of the role of race, gender, and nationality in Korea is much clearer. I now realize that my experience in Korea as a white male is very different from that of a black male. I now have a better understanding of Korea and approach this next year here with that increased knowledge. I feel that my career plans have been reaffirmed through this study. I still have the desire to pursue a career in International Educational Exchange (IIE, Fulbright, related careers) or the Foreign Service.

Venues for Sharing

Anti-Americanism in South Korea

Professor Chae, with her student fellows, Scott Damberger and Tiffany Carwile, presented a paper entitled “Understanding anti-Americanism among South Korean College Students” using data collected from the May survey trip, at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association held in Chicago in September 2004.

Teaching English in Korea: A study of two major types of English teachers in Korea
Besides presenting at the ASIANetwork conference in April, there are a few other outlets planned for sharing this research and experience. First, the Public and Cultural Affairs Offices of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul have expressed interest in this research, particularly in respects to the EPIK program in relation to the Fulbright ETA program and the larger picture of teaching English in Korea. Dylan plans to write a book on teaching English in Korea and the different channels and programs foreigners can come through. He also plans to submit a paper to the Korea TESOL Journal and a condensed version to KOTESOL’s newsletter, The English Connection.