A track in the Global Asias Graduate Program in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies
Stony Brook University welcomes applications from around the world for its new M.A. track in Korean Humanism, a graduate program dedicated to training future scholars of premodern and modern Korean literature, history, culture, and philosophy. Designed for students with a commitment to advancing research on Korea's humanistic topics across all periods, the program aims to nurture well-rooted intellectuals and future scholars of Korea. It responds to a growing need for historically grounded, ethically informed perspectives in an era of global uncertainty, technological acceleration, and shifting cultural values. Through close engagement with classical and modern sources, students develop critical skills to rethink questions of humanity, knowledge, and responsibility across time and cultures. The program offers a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum, with full tuition support available for selected candidates. Students interested in all periods of Korean studies are welcome to apply.
Program Highlights
The M.A. Track in Korean Humanism is a 30-credit program structured as follows:
I. Research Methods (3 credits)
AAS 501 Research Methodology: This course introduces qualitative and quantitative research methods used in the social sciences and humanities, including narrative, phenomenological, ethnographic, case study, correlational, and survey research. Students select a topic related to Contemporary Asian and Asian American students and develop a pilot research project.
II. Required Core Courses (12 credits)
AAS 511 Reading Classical Texts in Korean Humanism I: This course explores the Korean humanistic tradition through a close examination of
selected classical works written before the 17th century.
AAS 512 Reading Classical Texts in Korean Humanism II: This course explores the Korean humanistic tradition through a close examination of
selected classical works written after the 17th century.
AAS 536 Korean Humanism in Modern History: This course investigates the emergence,
evolution, and transformation of Korean humanism from the late 19th to the 20th century.
AAS 538 Korean Humanists: Lives and Works: This graduate seminar explores the evolution of Korean humanist thought from the classical period through modern times by examining the lives and works of influential thinkers, reformers, and spiritual leaders.
III. Three Elective Courses (9 credits)
AAS 500 Intellectual History of East Asia: This course introduces the major intellectual traditions of East Asia, emphasizing
that intellectual movements not only mirror historical change but also actively shape
it. By situating these diverse traditions within a broader East Asian framework, the
course explores how philosophy, religion, literature, and political thought both reflected
and guided the historical trajectories of China, Korea, and Japan
AAS 523 Language and Society in Korea: A multidisciplinary exploration of Korean society and culture through language practices. The course examines how linguistic practices reflect and shape historical and sociocultural experiences.
AAS 532 Humanities Topics in Korean Studies: This course explores the evolution of Korean humanism as reflected in historical scholarship,
literary traditions, and cinematic narratives from the late Joseon dynasty to contemporary
South Korea.
AAS 533 The Unending Korean War: This course examines the unended/unending nature of the Korean War, paying special
attention to how the war has been remembered, especially by those who contest the
dominant historical narrative of U.S. benevolence.
AAS 537 History of Korea: This course examines Korean history from ancient to modern times. Korea is one of the ancient, non–European civilizations claiming a cultural influence on East Asia and beyond. Reflecting its unique historical experiences, Korean history has raised diverse debatable issues. The primary goal of this course is to provide an overview of Korean history and, at the same time, through introducing multiple debatable issues of historical significance, it attempts to enhance students’ analytical capability in approaching complicated historical issues.
AAS 539 Korean Literature: This course is an introduction of the literary tradition of Korea. It examines representative literary works selected from the corpus of Korean literature in various periods with special attention to their historical background and the aesthetic and cultural values that are embedded in them.
IV. A Thesis (3 credits)
Spring Admission: November 1 (Early consideration: October 1)
Click here to start your application.
** Note: Select Global Asias M.A. as your Program of Study, then choose the Korean Humanism Track within the application.
** If you would like to apply for a scholarship, you must submit a separate application
by a different deadline. Please see the Scholarship section for more information.
With some support from the Academy of Korean Studies, we offer full-tuition scholarships for a small number of competitive students. To apply, please submit your graduate application first and then complete the separate scholarship application. Scholarship decisions are contingent upon admission to the graduate program.
Scholarship Application Deadlines for Fall admission (April 15) and Spring admission (October 15)
Eligibility Requirements
- Admission to the M.A. track in Korean Humanism through the M.A. in the Global Asias program at Stony Brook University.
- Demonstrated academic excellence, with a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or higher.
- Clear commitment to pursuing research in Korean humanistic traditions.
Use this link to submit the scholarship application. Scholarship decisions will be announced separately from graduate admission decisions by May 31 and November 30, respectively.