Koreans Across the Globe, 2011
(Source: “World’s widest diaspora born over 100 years ago.” Korea Joongang Daily, October 2, 2013.)

Lesson Features

• • TOPICS:  Korean Diaspora, Korean Americans
  • HISTORICAL TIME FRAME: 1880 – 1920
  • SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Oral History Analysis Presentation
  • EXTENSION: Web-Based Research Report

Lesson Overview

• • Students are introduced to the Korean Diaspora and Korean American immigration patterns and experiences.  They complete a short web-based research project on locations of Koreans and Korean Americans.  They compare experiences of Korean Americans in the first and second waves of immigrants and consider how these experiences have evolved over the 20th century.

Time Frame

• • There are two activities in this lesson. Activity 1.1 requires 55 minutes.
  • Activity 1.2 includes viewing of several videos and could take several days. The Activity 2 oral history web-based activity could be completed for homework or will require an additional day.
  • The Summative Assessment web-based research project requires 55 minutes and homework.

Objectives and Learning Goals

• • Students will be able to define diaspora and identify major countries in the world and states in America where Koreans live today.
  • Students will be able to identify examples of the three Korean waves of immigration to the United States.
  • Students will be able to identify, compare, and contrast examples of immigrant experiences and issues they faced in the United States. ​
  • Students will be able to identify ways how Korean immigrant experiences have evolved since 1903.

Vocabulary

• • Diaspora – populations, such as members of an ethnic or religious group, that originated from the same place but dispersed to different locations.
  • Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 – suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers (skilled or unskilled).
  • immigrant wave – The migration of many people simultaneously, so that they appear at once at a given place in great numbers in comparison with those that go before or come after.
  • Quota system – a system, originally determined by legislation in 1921, of limiting by nationality the number of immigrants who may enter the U.S. each year.
  • Arirang – Korean folk song representing separation and lost love

Original Resources ​​

• • Chang, E. & Cho, G. (2022). The Korean Diaspora and Korean Americans. In G. Cho & V. Costa (Eds.). Korean American Ethnic Studies Curriculum: Teaching Resource Materials for K-12 Classrooms (pp.1-43). Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles.

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Lesson 1 Presentation Teacher’s Guide (PDF)

Download Lesson 1 Presentation (PPT)