DESCRIPTION:

The course will seek ways which age and gender-based hierarchical order is affecting the structure and processes of Korean churches, the most basic communal base of the immigrant community, and see how the church is influencing the maintenance and changes in Korean-American families. Ministerial students will gain familiarity with the basic structure and changing dynamics of the family in Korea and with the rapid transformation that Korean immigrant families are experiencing in newly settled multi-cultural America. Specifically, the course will examine forms and structures of the Korean family, the Korean-American family in comparison with the American family, the changing status and role of its members, the dynamics of power relations, and see how traditional Korean values, deeply embedded in Confucianism-based authoritarianism, have influenced the nature of Korean families across time and space, and are merging into new cultural forms and values.

Korean families are undergoing rapid transformations in structure, form, and internal dynamics as the nation is undergoing urbanization, industrialization, and technological changes at an unprecedented pace. The depth and speed of such transformations are escalated in the process of adjustment and assimilation in America. Familiarity with the nature of such changes will help ministers to formulate constructive strategies for more effective family ministry programs.

Lectures, student presentations, class discussions. The lecture is primarily in Korean, but discussion and presentations may be in Korean, English, or both. The class will meet weekly for three and half hour sessions.

Fong, Timothy P. and Larry H. Shinagawa. Asian Americans: Experiences and Perspectives. Prentice Hall, 2000.

Gonzales, Juan L., Jr. Racial and Ethnic Families in America. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1992.

Kajokkwa Hankook Sahoe (Family and Korean Society). Seoul: Yosong Hankook Sahoe Yonkoohoe, 1995.

Kim, Elaine H. and Eui-Young Yu. East to America: Korean American Life Stories. New York: The New Press, 1996.

Kim, Yeasun E. Korean Families and Family Therapy. Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang, 1987.

Lee, Won Gue. Hankook Kyohoeeui Sahoehakjok E-hai (Sociological Interpretation of the Korean Church). Seoul: Songso Yonkoosa, 1992.

No, Chi-Joon. Hankook Kaesinkyo Sahoehak (Sociology of Korean Protestant Churches). Hanool Academy, 1998.

Yu, Eui-Young and Earl H. Phillips, eds. Korean Women in Transition: At Home and Abroad. Center for Korean American and Korean Studies, California State University, Los Angeles, 1987.

Readings on reserve.

(1) Attendance and class presentation (20% of the grade). (2) Weekly two-page reflection paper on reading assignment (20%). (3) Term paper on Pastoral Theology of the family and the Church in the Korean context, 20 pages, double-space (60%).

Meets M. Div. core requirement in Pastoral Ministry and Theology (MIN 6).