North Korea: Past and Present

On Thursday, February 8th, the World Affairs Council partnered with The East Asia Resource Center and the Center for Global Studies to explore the history of North Korea and gain a better understanding of North Korea and current challenges in international affairs. Our speakers were Clint Work and Chelsea Toczauer. Clint Work is a Ph.D candidate at the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Clint writes for various publications and is the regular foreign and national security policy writer for The Diplomat’s Korea page. For this event, Clint delved into the historical roots of the North Korean state, its internal mechanisms of social, political and ideological control and the development of critical issues on the Korean peninsula. Chelsea Toczauer followed and provided a deeper exploration of available teacher resources including those from North Korean sites. The night concluded with an engaging Q&A session where educators had the opportunity to gain additional insight about the history of North Korea, its relation to the U.S., and how to bring these various topics to life in a classroom in an engaging way.

Global Classroom Director Ryan Hauck and Global Classroom Program Coordinator Tobias Osterhaug introduced curricular connections and lesson ideas for teaching about North Korea. Our resource packet, linked above, includes full lesson plans, documentary suggestions, printable graphics, political cartoons, and more.