earticle

영어

This research presents a brief study and an exploratory retrospective of the current researcher’s work and research in South Korea and Northeast Asia, including the challenges of integrating anthropology within the broader interdisciplinary field of international studies. The chief research questions are, what important lessons emerge from examining the research, teaching and career experiences of an expatriate professor serving in Northeast Asia, and regarding the role(s) of applying anthropology within international studies in the same region? The paper examines applied anthropological research the present researcher has done in South Korea as an expatriate professor and the primary contexts influencing his training and on-going work, including the broad state (institutional contexts) of the fields of international studies, anthropology and applied anthropology in South Korea and Northeast Asia. Next, the paper explores the author’s research involving countries and cultures in the region, both published and unpublished research. The paper also discusses anthropological pedagogy: how the researcher has used applied anthropology to teach about international affairs, international development, business, and logistics, some of the primary domains of anthropological application connected with international studies in Korea. This research also considers important ethical and research issues and challenges that expatriate anthropological researchers and graduate students can face in South Korea, including teaching and handling applied social science research ethics. The study concludes with key lessons derived from these examples of studying diverse aspects of cultures in Northeast Asia from an applied social science perspective. Chiefly, while anthropology and applied anthropology offer highly valuable, practical perspectives on academic and practitioner issues in international studies, Northeast Asia and South Korea need to develop and expand anthropology as an academic discipline, including actual training programs in applied and public anthropology. If not, the capacity of anthropology and applied anthropology to contribute to international studies and other domains in the region will be hindered.