Acclaimed director Ryoo Seung-wan had just a few days free between finishing his latest project, I, The Executioner, and attending the film’s world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Despite his tight schedule, he found time to sit down with sixteen Indiana University students for a conversation about his work.
A few days later, the students had an intimate chat with Lee Chang-dong, renowned director of Peppermint Candy, Poetry, and Burning. These extraordinary opportunities were part of a ten-day study abroad trip through the Hamilton Lugar School’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.
The participants – 15 undergraduates and one graduate student – traveled to South Korea to immerse themselves in the country’s vibrant cinematic arts culture. Their activities centered around cultural and historic sites around Seoul, with day trips to the Demilitarized Zone and Busan. They were well prepared to make the most of the experience – during the spring semester, they all participated in John Finch’s Studies in South Korean Cinema class in which they used the lens of feature films to examine the intersection of gender, class, and nation in contemporary South Korean society.
Finch, an academic specialist in the Hamilton Lugar School’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and associate director at the Institute for Korean Studies, has been teaching about South Korean cinema for about twenty years. In May 2024, for the first time ever, students in his cinema class had the opportunity to follow up their classroom work with a travel course to experience South Korean culture in person.
The study abroad course was made possible by a collaboration between Finch and Korea Foundation Professor Seung-kyung Kim, director of the Institute for Korean Studies. Thanks to funding from the Academy of Korean Studies Core University Program Grant, scholarships were offered to defray expenses.
Kim explained why they created the study abroad course. “We know there are many students who aren’t able to participate in study abroad for a year, a semester, or even for a summer,” she said. “So, providing this short one-credit course means that students will be immersed in Korean society, Korean culture, Korean cinema, and learn about a society that they have not been exposed to as much.”
For some students, going abroad was a completely new experience. Daisy Hong, Institute for Korean Studies Assistant Director, said, “In fact, three of the students on the trip had never even traveled outside of Indiana before.”
Finch and Kim led the academic aspects of the class, while Hong handled the logistical arrangements before and during the trip. Although most of the participants had majors in the Hamilton Lugar School, the group also included students majoring in Dance, Neuroscience, and Business.
Finch said, “I was impressed by the variety of what people liked the best. We had a packed itinerary, and almost everything had one person who singled it out as their favorite. For example, one thing I had never done before is getting dressed in hanbok and going to the Gyeongbokgung palace. I wouldn’t have thought it would be so important, but several people said that was their favorite.”
“It opened my eyes to the realness of Korean history and the closeness of two countries that are so drastically different but are rooted in the same events and people throughout time,” Choe said. “I had not been to many major tourist attractions in the past, but this solidified the value of some tourist attractions and the importance of visiting places to understand the culture and cultural by-products – a common one being film.”
For Law and Public Policy major Annabella Lulgjuraj, one of her favorite experiences was the art history class with Moon Jung Choi at the Korean Consensus Institute in the Jongno District of Seoul. She said, “We learned about the history of Korea through a selection of artwork that we got to see at the National Museum of Korea. My knowledge of Korean history isn’t vast, so I really enjoyed the lecture. While it was a lot to process, doing it through artwork made it digestible.”
Lulgjuraj was also impressed with meeting the directors. She said, “It was incredibly surreal to have watched their films in class, and then to see them in person … I appreciated how excited they were to listen to our insights and questions about their films. It was truly special to learn from the directors about how they navigated the film industry and craft their films.”
Matea Parks, an East Asian Languages and Cultures major, said meeting with two acclaimed directors was extraordinary. “We asked questions about the movies that we watched,” she said. “It was amazing to get in-depth answers in such a personal, one-on-one space. I thought it was cool – it really spiked my interest.”
What Parks had not expected, however, was how visiting a Seoul Broadcasting System studio would affect her. “Being on the drama set – it made my heart race out of excitement,” she said. She was amazed at how detailed the set was.
“Everything had a specific place and purpose, even tiny details such as the placement of an empty water bottle,” she said. “As we walked through the set and explored, I thought about how I would love to be a part of the creation of the show and the set.”
“I used to think that I might want to go into law or become a translator, but the visit to the drama set opened up a whole new world of possibilities,” Parks said. “Promptly after seeing the set, I began looking into jobs within film and media as well as classes to explore this interest to see if I actually want to do this job.”
Parks didn’t have to look very far to see what a career in translation or cinema might look like for a graduate of Indiana University or the Hamilton Lugar School. The group had the opportunity to network with four alumni living and working in South Korea.
Darcy Paquet, who earned an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from IU in 1997, went with the group on a tour of the Korean Film Archive, and facilitated a screening of Director Ryoo’s Smugglers and Director Lee’s Poetry, followed by a time for reflection. Paquet is a film critic, university lecturer, author, and actor who has lived in Korea since graduating from IU. Among his many cinema credentials, Paquet has worked with director Bong Joon-ho for decades, and collaborated closely with him to write the English subtitles for Bong’s award-winning 2019 film Parasite.
Recent Hamilton Lugar School graduates Katharine Lawrence and Riley Marshall provided translation assistance during the trip as well. Lawrence and Marshall each earned a B.A. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from the Hamilton Lugar School in 2021, and now work in South Korea. Marshall translated the conversation with Director Lee. Lawrence translated the conversation with director Ryoo. Lawrence also translated while the group learned about hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) and toured the Gyeongbokgung palace. She also accompanied students to Mok-dong where they toured the Seoul Broadcast Station (SBS), and to Ilsan, where they explored the SBS production site.
Kelley School of Business alumnus William W.S. Joo, M.B.A. ’87, arranged a dinner for the group at his Din Tai Fung franchise in Seoul. A successful entrepreneur, Joo is also one of the sponsors of the Korea Foundation Chair in Korean Studies, a position held by Institute for Korean Studies Director Kim.
Parks has already received valuable career advice from Paquet and is motivated to explore longer study abroad or international internship possibilities. “I think if anyone else can go on this kind of trip, they should. It’s a great opportunity,” she said. “Even though it was just 10 days, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me.”
Indiana University offers more than 300 study abroad programs, along with numerous travel scholarships and funding opportunities. Visit our study abroad web page to learn more.
