[KS] Re: A disturbing trend

[Yuh Ji-Yeon]

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dear colleagues,

many academic lists, not only H-Asia, are moderated. and as frank
hoffman 
pointed out, such lists often receive funding precisely because they
adhere 
to basic standards of civil, learned discussion. the moderated academic 
lists of which i have been a member do not seem to suffer from any
stifling 
effect. people on these lists have honest disagreements and discussions 
about these disagreements, sometimes vehement ones, but rarely ones that 
degenerate into personal attacks or are offensive. the attacks, such as 
they are, are kept professional or else put off-line and done in
private.

this list, however, does seem to have a different character. members
often 
seem comfortable making offhand remarks that are not quite courteous and 
sometimes are quite rude. some commentary can easily be construed as 
prejudiced, narrowminded and insensitive, if not outright racist. and
there 
have been times when i have wondered, as one or two others have publicly 
done, whether this is the korea studies list or the moogoonghwa list.
this 
thought occurred to me today as i read some of the posts, one in
particular 
comes to mind, regarding the nobel peace prize.

there is a certain casualness on this list that is perhaps more
appropriate 
among people who know each other fairly well and for a list that is not 
concerned with learned discussion but is more interested in conversation 
such as one might carry over dinner or drinks. this casualness may not
be 
appropriate for a list where many are strangers, have never met or only
met 
once or twice at a conference, and do not really know from what context
and 
what kind of personality a comment or post is coming from. and this 
casualness may not be appropriate for a list that tries to foster
academic 
debate and exchange.

in addition, we would all benefit from a greater regard for netiquette. 
discussions on this list are written, not verbal, and do not occur in
real 
time. written communication often requires a little more effort and 
formally voiced niceties that verbal communication, with the added
richness 
and depth afforded by body language and facial expressions and tone of 
voice, does not necessarily require.

my own sense from the discussion surrounding moderation is that the
debate 
is not really about stifling debate and moderation, but rather about the 
character of this list. will this list be a somewhat more courteous one 
devoted to learned debate and academic exchange, or more of a
free-for-all 
list for discussions and chitchat, some of it catty, some of it rude,
some 
of it offensive? until a choice is made the kind of tension and 
disagreement that has cropped up on this list is not likely to abate.

let me clarify here that i do not think that academic topics need be
boring 
ones. i do not think that any of the topics we have discussed have been 
"non-academic" or "mere chitchat" and i am in favor of a broad 
understanding of what is academic or relevant to academics. but i am
also 
in favor of courtesy, holding one's tongue (or hesitating over the send 
key) and thinking a little more before speaking, and generally making 
contributions to discussion rather than simply saying whatever comes to 
mind. declining to simply say whatever comes to mind and thinking
through 
one's public comments can be a very good thing. indeed, some would call 
this maturity. my own opinion is that this list can use more of this
sort 
of maturity, but that list moderation is not really going to do much to 
foster it. the issue is not moderation, but one of the culture, if you 
will, of this list and its members.

and finally, i fail to see the connection between korean faculty and 
students desiring freedom from censorship and list moderation. have the 
moderators or members of this list forbidden certain topics? is there a 
politically correct line that members must toe? no one has made any such 
pronouncements -- there has merely been a call for more courtesy and for 
keeping discussions to korea studies-related topics. while there may be 
some dispute over what constitutes courtesy and relevance to korea
studies, 
this call can hardly be said to be censorship.

best,
ji-yeon

Department of History,	Northwestern University, Harris Hall 202
1881 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 U.S.A.
office: 1-847-467-6538  dept: 1-847-491-3406  fax: 1-847-467-1393
email: j-yuh at northwestern.edu