General Catalog 2024-25

Lecture, four hours. Focused study on K-pop—South Korea’s most significant cultural export. Close attention is paid to global influences that have shaped Korean popular music in earlier decades and in turn, unprecedented global reach of K-pop in recent history. Study is divided into three units: contextualizing K-pop, transnational flows in K-pop, and critical takes on K-pop. Each unit features distinctive case studies, and lectures draw out some of broader linkages between units as they relate to modern Korean history, Cold War geopolitical formations and legacies, modern South Korean state and economy, and spread of Korean popular culture. Study draws on wide array of scholarly articles, journalistic pieces, music videos, webinars, and online resources while foregrounding larger issues that emerge through cultural analysis. P/NP or letter grading.