Korean Studies in the English-speaking world has reached a significant turning point in this first decade of the twenty-first century. If we make the correct turn, it will continue to advance, promoting greater understanding of Korean history and culture in academia as well as a heightened recognition of the distinctiveness of Korean culture in the wider world. However, if we make the wrong turn, Korean Studies could stagnate and grow less, not more, productive. What is the right direction for Korean Studies in the English-speaking world? We have already made a lot of progress in providing material in translation to help our students and others gain access to Korea history and culture through the words of Koreans themselves. However, most of that material has been state-centered, focusing on politics and the cultural productions of the wealthy and well-educated governing elite. We need to move beyond state-centered documents and translate more material on daily life, especially the lives on the non-elite, to give those who can’t read that material in the original a better sense of what it was like to live in Korea a thousand, five hundred, or even just fifty years ago. In this article, I will make some specific suggestions for the type of material we should think about translating.
한국연구원은 1970년 5월 한국 민속의 각 분야에 걸친 자료의 수집과 학술적 연구를 목적으로 '한국민속연구소'로 출발하였다. 그 후 1973년 5월 연구 분야를 확대하며 민속뿐만 아니라 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 위해 '한국학연구소'로 개편하였고, 다시 1989년 3월 한국의 국제적 위상의 부상과 함께 한국학 연구의 중요성이 높아짐에 따라 '한국학연구원'으로 확대, 개편하였다. 한국학연구원은 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 통해 지역과 민족문화 발전에 기여하며 한국학의 세계화를 위해서 학술활동을 강화하고 나아가 내·외국인에 대한 한국문화 교육을 담당하고자 한다.