[KS] Re: Moderated classroom

[Ruediger Frank]

REPLY sends your message to the whole list
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At 13:19 03.10.00 +0800, Prof. Miller wrote:
>REPLY sends your message to the whole list
>__________________________________________
>
>With all due respect to those of contrary opinion, not everyone believes
>that Korean studies is entirely (or even best) defined by discussions of
>romanization systems and North Korean steel prices. 
...
> To my mind, the greater problem on this list has
>not been a lack of focus but a lack of tolerance

YES! I agree completely. And I would like to add that I would never have
the courage to shoulder the burden of being responsible for deciding
what is worth to be posted on the list and what not, without glass-clear
and detailed normative criteria. Not to speak of the time the moderators
have to invest, with little chance of receiving too much praise for
their hard work. 

What I would see as a positive feature of this list is that people other
than those we know for years (because we meet regularly at conferences
or read each other's articles and books) appear and make their input,
without having to self-censor themselves. I do not say that this
self-censorship is a bad thing; I have often asked myself what the
relevance of mini-messages like "indeed", "oops" or the like is. But we
should try to avoid EVERYTHING that could discourage ANYBODY from
posting what she or he thinks could be of interest - as long as it has
to do with Korea, of course. I fear that people like students or
non-specialists in Korean Studies could be the first victims - and all
others as well, since we would loose both diversity and substance.

Rudiger Frank


***********************
Ruediger FRANK
Humboldt-University Berlin
Korea Institute
Fon: +49-30-55 99 878
Fax: +49-30-2093-6666
e-mail: ruediger.frank at rz.hu-berlin.de
Web: http://www2.hu-berlin.de/korea
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