[KS] The Korea Times : Founder of Korean Studies in US James Palais Dies

[Matthew Benuska]

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200608/kt2006080917475852920.htm 

  


	
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 	 Founder of Korean Studies in US James Palais Dies
	
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James Palais
SEOUL (Yonhap) - James Palais, one of the world's most influential Korean
history scholars who trained many Korean scholars in the United States, has
died following a prolonged illness, a former student of his said Wednesday.
He was 72. 

Palais died Sunday in a Seattle hospital, where he was being treated for
blood pressure-related illnesses, said Park Chungshin, a Christian studies
professor at Soongsil University in Seoul who received the news from his
alma mater, the University of Washington in Seattle. Park studied under the
direction of Palais in the late 1970s.

Known as the "godfather of Korean students," Palais was an avid supporter of
Korea's profile and also a fierce critic of its military government in the
1970s and 80s.

His students recount him as a frosty, tough man at first sight, but one who
had sincere affection for those who were committed to their task. Park
remembers his first encounter with Palais at his office. Park almost mistook
the teacher, a man of small stature who arrived wearing a motorcycle helmet
and jeans, as a maintenance worker.

"He didn't seem affectionate at all. I was afraid," Park said, "But he was a
man who showed deep love to those who were eager to study. Many failed under
him, but those who completed his courses know how warm-hearted he was."

Palais trained more than half of all the Ph.D. recipients in Korean history
who are now active in the U.S. Among the scholars who benefited from him are
Bruce Cummings, the most widely known Korean studies scholar by far; Carter
Eckert at Harvard University; and Clark Sorenson, chair of the Korean
studies program at the University of Washington. His wide influence led
people to say he created a " Mafia of Washington."

Palais' life became focused on Korea by chance. Born in Brookline,
Massachusetts, he received a B.A. in American history from Harvard
University and enlisted in the U.S. Department of Defense's Army Language
School in the early 1960s. 


08-09-2006 17:48
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