[KS] The Obituary of Prof. Young Ick Lew

[Mark Peterson]

Beautiful note.  Thank you

On Mon, Aug 7, 2023 at 8:18 PM CedarBough T. Saeji <umyang at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>>
>
>
> --
>
> -----------
>
> 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
>
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>
> Skype: c.saeji
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> Twitter: @TheKpopProf
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> 2022     "Building a K-Community: Idol Stars Challenging Foreign Fans to
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> Andrew David Jackson, Remco Breuker, and Codruța Sîntionean. Honolulu:
> University of Hawai'i Press*. *(November).
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> "Preserving intangible culture as static performances in the hope of
> sustaining cultural diversity may do very little to foster the processes of
> change and regeneration that are needed to ensure cultural vitality and
> heterogeneity" (Pietrobruno 2009: 240).
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