Hi everyone,

I have the opportunity to propose, and then if accepted, develop a course for international students studying at Keimyung University in Daegu, Korea. www.kmu.ac.kr

I have a list of current subjects and suggested subjects, but am not restricted to those. Several of the existing and suggested topics relate to the subject I will propose which is tentatively entitled:

Totalitarianism & New Religious Movements on the Korean Peninsula
or
Totalitarianism & Religious Fanaticism on the Korean Peninsula

Several of the existing subjects concern religion in South Korea and North Korean society and politics, therefore I am hopeful a course specifically on totalitarianism and Korean cults has a chance of being accepted, and if not perhaps I can contribute a few lessons to existing classes concerning religion in the South and Kim Jong Il’s regime in the North.

I was only informed a few days ago about this opportunity and have until Wednesday to submit my proposal.

I would appreciate any links or details about similar courses offered by universities relating to indoctrination, thought reform, new religious movements, cults etc. Or any suggestions regarding content and suggestions for possible course names.

Just a little about my qualifications and background to show I’m quite serious and excited by this opportunity.
I am a qualified teacher, and will soon complete a Graduate Diploma in Counselling & Psychology through: www.acap.edu.au
(My undergraduate degree was in Commerce)
Upon arriving in Korea 4 years ago, I happened upon a little known Moonies off-shoot cult and gathering information about that has become a very rewarding and fascinating hobby: [falsemessiah.proboards23.com]

Last week, for the first time, I had the opportunity to give a lecture to freshmen students as part of their chapel classes here at Keimyung University.
I created this video which concerns the cult I encountered and shared some of my experiences with the students: [www.youtube.com]

I have not had a lot of time to think about the course, but a few hours thought gave me this rough outline:

An introduction to the course would include examples of totalitarianism throughout history and an examination of thought reform in China.
(I am thinking of using Lifton’s A Study of Brainwashing in China)

Then move onto the current regime in North Korea, its history and indoctrination methods over the 50 odd years of its existence.

Moving onto South Korea I would then like to compare what we learnt about Chinese thought reform and the totalitarian regime of North Korea and apply it to the examination of new religious movements in Korea, looking for commonalities.

Groups I would like to examine include, The Unification Church, JMS / Providence / Setsuri (the group I encountered), Dahn-Hak, Jeung San Do, and perhaps some smaller lesser known groups. If time allows, I would like to extend it to other Asian groups, namely Falun Gong, Aum Shin Rikyo & Shin Sokka Gakkai. We would examine each group’s history, leadership, belief structure and recruitment and control methods and compare those to Lifton’s model of thought reform, and others ofered by Singer and Hassan etc.

Although the deadline for submitting proposals is just a few days away, the course wouldn’t be offered to students until September 2007, giving me plenty of time to fine tune everything.

Still need to think of things like course goals and learning outcomes.
I’m pretty sure I can write something up for those.
And I should relate the studies to the wider world with something like, it is hoped that by studying religious fanaticism in Korea, students will have a greater understanding of religious fanaticism throughout the world, the problems such fanaticism poses to society at large and better equip students to identify the methods used by such groups should they encounter them. (something like that)
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as well as some links of existing similar courses.

I’m also thinking of putting Orwell’s 1984 on the reading list, and maybe Animal Farm too. Might be able to swing a visit to North Korea….but I haven’t looked into that yet, just an idea.
Thanks,
Peter