[KS] The Obituary of Prof. Young Ick Lew

[CedarBough T. Saeji]

Dr. Lew was my professor at Yonsei. He was incredibly inspiring-- he'd just
rattle off every detail of a historical event in a soft voice (you really
needed to sit at the front of the room), while looking at us, but somehow
simultaneously scribbling behind himself on the chalkboard, adding English,
hanja (people's names), dates, sometimes Japanese terms, all without
slowing down in his lecture. The level of detail in his lectures was so
high that when I became a professor and began teaching Korean history
classes, the first place I looked was at my notes from those MA classes.
His mind was so sharp-- incredibly incisive feedback on all student work,
and the red pen identifying grammar mistakes even on the exams of a native
English speaker was scary (he was never wrong)!! He took time for his
students, too. I last saw him by chance on the street near 경복궁 in maybe
summer of 2017, but I remember it like it was yesterday. For me Dr. Lew
modeled how to hold (perhaps in his case infamously) strong opinions but
still to allow students to have a totally different take-- he never minded
my much more liberal perspective, and I've always thought back to that
example when I've had students interpret things very differently than I do.
He didn't talk to us that much about his personal life, even when going on
a field trip to Ganghwa Island or visiting President Rhee's former
residence, but the few stories he told-- like during the Pacific War when
he and the other students were ordered by the Japanese to go gather pine
cones for pine nuts rather than studying- always made us feel like he'd
lived the history he taught. I will miss him.

CedarBough Saeji

On Tue, Aug 8, 2023 at 7:15 AM Jieun Han <jieun_han at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Listed Members,
>
> Prof. Young Ick Lew passed away on July 26, 2023.
> Here is the obituary by his second son Daniel Lew:
>
>  Young Ick Lew, 87, eminent historian of Korean studies, passed away on
> July 26 in Seoul, Korea.  He graduated from Seoul National University and
> received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in History and East Asian
> Languages.  During his professional career, he taught at numerous
> universities, including Yonsei University, Hallym University, Korea
> University, and the University of Houston.  More recently, he was the head
> of the National Institute of Korean History.  As the author of many books
> and articles on Korean history, his work on Syngman Rhee was particularly
> notable, including his book, "The Making of the First President: Syngman
> Rhee's Quest for Independence."  He received many awards throughout his
> illustrious career, including the Kyung-Ahm Prize in Arts and Sciences in
> 2006 for his academic contributions.   He is sorely missed by his family,
> friends, and colleagues who always respected his passion for teaching
> Korean history.
>
> Daniel Lew's email:   danlew72 at hotmail.com
>
> Best regards,
> Jieun Han
> Visiting Scholar
> Institue for East Asian Studies
> Sogang University
>


-- 

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CedarBough T. Saeji  ∞     서이지 ● 瑞利智

Profile on Academia.edu <https://pusan.academia.edu/CedarBoughSaeji>

Assistant Professor of Korean and East Asian Studies, Pusan National
University Department of Global and International Studies



Skype: c.saeji

Twitter: @TheKpopProf



Latest publications:

2022     "Building a K-Community: Idol Stars Challenging Foreign Fans to
Learn Korean Traditions" in *Acta Koreana. *

2021     Co-editor: *Invented Traditions in North and South Korea*, with
Andrew David Jackson, Remco Breuker, and Codruța Sîntionean. Honolulu:
University of Hawai'i Press*. *(November).




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heterogeneity" (Pietrobruno 2009: 240).
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