Upon starting this reporter project
I was given some feedback on which cultures I could possibly research. The one
I found most appealing to do research on was that of the Korean culture. I
chose this
ethnicity because having a Korean friend through school I had fun
learning about different norms of her culture. So for my blog I decided I would
research the Korean culture.
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| Flag of South Korea |
The
first way I plan to do this is to research their history. I know already that
there has been controversy between North and South Korea. I would like to first
understand the history of the culture before moving forward as to gain a better
understanding of the background before proceeding into present culture and
possible interviews. I will research the history first off by Internet
resources. Of course in my interviews I will ask about personal experiences and
opinions on past and present events and how the were interpreted for Korean culture.
A
quick history and info lesson about South Korea: South Korea became its own
country in 1948. Although they became independent from North Korean conflicts
continued between the two countries well after this time. South Korea has approximately
48.8 million people with 99% of citizens speaking Korean. Religions range from
22.8% Buddhist, 29.2% Christian and 46.5% with no religious preference. (Szczepanski, K. )
I
intended to look not only at American Koreans but also to understand those
abroad in South Korea. I hope to do this in the interview with my friend who is
Korean as she visits South Korea regularly and has many ties to the culture
both here in America and in South Korea. In this
I hope to bring to light Korean culture in comparison to American and possibly
even report details I can about North and South Korean relations. Maybe if I
get lucky I can even get a translated interview with her family in South Korea,
we’ll see!
One definition of culture is shared
language, beliefs, and values (Martin & Nakayama, 2012). I think Koreans
definitely fit this description because they are one of many groups with similar
and contrasting traditions and backgrounds. The great thing about interviewing
this group is that there is a wide range of diversity from those well adapted
to western society and those that may be foreign to American cultures.
I
plan to do most of my contact through Skype or from face to face interviews. As
far As I can’t tell I don’t see any ethical implications other than that I am
asking someone to relay parts of their personal life and culture that they may
not have expressed previously.
I really like my choice for my
cultural reporter project because it’s a culture very different from my own but
one that a have close access to in order to gain a better understanding and
appreciation.
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| Korean women in traditional hanbok performance |
References:
Flag
of South Korea
[Photograph]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/0/09/Flag_of_South_Korea.svg
Martin,
J.N. & Nakayme, T.K. (2012) Intercultural Communication in Contexts (6th
ed.) Boston, MA: McGraw Hill
Szczepanski,
K. (n.d.). South Korea facts and history. Retrieved February 8, 2013, from
About.com
website: http://asianhistory.about.com/od/southkorea/p/South-Korea-Facts-And-History.htm
