Peace Corps Volunteers and the Making of Korean Studies in the United States

Peace Corps Volunteers and the Making of Korean Studies in the United States
Author: Seung-Kyung Kim
Publisher: Center for Korea Studies Publications
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020
Genre: Korea (South)
ISBN: 9780295748122

"Among the scholars who have built the field of Korean studies are former Peace Corps volunteers who served in South Korea in the 1960s and 1970s before pursuing advanced degrees in anthropology, history, and literature. These scholars, who formed the core of the second generation of Korean Studies scholars in the US, reflect in this volume on their personal experience of serving during Korea's period of military dictatorship, on issues of gender and the Peace Corps experience, and on how random assignment to Korea sparked fascination and led to lifelong professional involvement with the country. Two chapters by Korean studies scholars who were not Peace Corps volunteers (one American and one Korean) assess how Peace Corps volunteers have influenced development of the field"--

When the World Calls

When the World Calls
Author: Stanley Meisler
Publisher: Beacon Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2011-02-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0807095478

A complete and revealing history of the Peace Corps—in time for its fiftieth anniversary When the World Calls is the first complete and balanced look at the Peace Corps's first fifty years. Stanley Meisler's engaging narrative exposes Washington infighting, presidential influence, and the Volunteers' unique struggles abroad. He deftly unpacks the complicated history with sharp analysis and memorable anecdotes, taking readers on a global trek starting with the historic first contingent of Volunteers to Ghana on August 30, 1961.

Answering Kennedy's Call

Answering Kennedy's Call
Author: Parker Borg
Publisher:
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2011
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781935925019

Fifty years after President Kennedy signed the 1961 Executive Order creating the Peace Corps, nearly 100 former volunteers who joined the new organization in the first year for service in the Philippines recall why they joined, what they experienced, and how this service in the Philippines affected their lives. In addition a half dozen members of the Peace Corps staff in the Philippines and a similar number of Filipinos have contributed their recollections from the period. The book includes photos of individuals from both the 1960s and more recently as well as maps showing communities of service. The Peace Corps program in the Philippines was the first in Asia. Three factors set it apart from others during the early years of the Peace Corps' existence. First, it was the largest program in the world, absorbing 25 per cent of all volunteers at the beginning. Second, all volunteers in the first years were assigned to be "teacher's aides," a position that was never clearly defined and that the Country Director later admitted was a "non-job." And third, the Philippine program occurred in a nation that only fifteen years earlier had become independent from the US, having been America's single effort at establishing an imperialist colonial empire. This history gave the Philippine program a distinctly different political and social dynamic from what was the case in all of the other early Peace Corps countries. These are the reminiscences of a group of young Americans of varying degrees of idealism who answered President Kennedy's call to do what they could for their country. Assigned each to a separate school in the central part of the country, they lived far from the bright lights of Manila. The stories illustrate varying degrees of integration into the local culture, different ways of coping with the frustrations of their "non-job," and what many learned as they came to terms with themselves living far from familiar comforts on a salary of about $55 per month. Above all the stories tell of the determination and spirit of these early volunteers in establishing a strong basis for one of the important first Peace Corps programs.

Taxi to Tashkent

Taxi to Tashkent
Author: Tom Fleming
Publisher:
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2007
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780595429974

This is a police state This is a democracy This is rot-gut vodka This is $2 prostitutes This is Peace Corps This is good intentions This is Ramadan This is loyalty This is power outages This is corruption This is the Silk Route This is the former USSR This is Uzbekistan Tom Fleming went to Uzbekistan as a forty year old Peace Corps volunteer. He was a fish out of water, an infidel in a Muslim land, teaching AIDS prevention and sex education in the most conservative region of Central Asia. With humor and poignancy "Taxi to Tashkent" portrays a land little known in the West. Instead of a nation rife with Islamic extremists as portrayed in the Western media, Fleming discovers a land of Korean discos, where blue eyed Muslims listen to Shania Twain, and where shop owners break into applause at the mention of America. Fleming travels throughout Uzbekistan, from the ecological disaster site of the Aral Sea, to the ancient Silk Route cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. "Taxi to Tashkent" describes a little-known corner of the world where nothing appears as it seems.

Looking at Ourselves and Others

Looking at Ourselves and Others
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 108
Release: 1998
Genre: Cross-cultural studies
ISBN:

"Looking at Ourselves and Others contains lesson plans, activities, and readings that help students understand components of their own culture and leads them to appreciate and understand differences between their culture and that of others."--Home page.

Ugly American

Ugly American
Author: William J. Lederer
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 294
Release: 1999-01-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780393318678

The ineffectual Ambassador is just one of the handicaps facing the Americans as Southeast Asia becomes increasingly involved with Communism.

I Miss the Rain in Africa

I Miss the Rain in Africa
Author: Nancy Wesson
Publisher: Modern History Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2021-05-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1615995749

At a time when her friends were planning cushy retirements, Nancy Wesson instead walked away from a comfortable life and business to head out as a Peace Corps Volunteer in post-war Northern Uganda. She embraced wholeheartedly the grand adventure of living in a radically different culture, while turning old skills into wisdom. Returning home becomes a surreal experience in trying to reconcile a life that no longer “fits.” This becomes the catalyst for new revelations about family wounds, mystical experiences, and personal foibles. Nancy shows us the power of stepping into the void to reconfigure life and enter the wilderness of the uncharted territory of our own memories and psyche, to mine the gems hidden therein. Funny, heartbreaking, insightful and tender, I Miss the Rain in Africa is the story of honoring the self, discovering a new lens through which to view life, and finding joy along the path. "Inspiring and educational when it comes to what we can accomplish when we put our best foot forward, I Miss the Rain in Africa shows how Nancy Daniel Wesson and others are putting the needs of others ahead of themselves-and what we can all do when it comes to stepping out on faith and choosing to act." -- Cyrus Webb, media personality and author, Conversations Magazine "I would think that many of us could learn or strive to live life to the fullest by following Nancy's example. Imagine venturing into new realms-especially at a later time in life when we possess meaningful knowledge for analyzing, but also for applying a critical philosophical perspective on new experiences." --Gary Vizzo, former management & operations director, Peace Corps Community Development: African and Asia "I Miss the Rain in Africa is an absorbing record of the exploration of self by a woman who, at age 64, enters a remote area of Africa to work with an NGO. Part adventure, part interior monologue, this is an account of a 21st century derring-do by an intrepid, intriguing and always optimistic woman who will, undoubtedly, enjoy a fourth and maybe even a fifth act wherever she may find herself." --Eileen Purcell, outreach literacy coordinator, Clatsop Community College, Astoria, Oregon "Wesson offers a montage of stories and experiences that introduces the reader to the colorful people and challenging life in Uganda. Wesson's observations are shared with humor, respect, and compassion. For anyone who has ever wondered what serving in Peace Corps or immersing oneself in a radically different life overseas might be like, this book provides a portal." --Kathleen Willis, Retired Peace Corps Volunteer-Community Organizer, former organizational development consultant Learn more at www.NancyWesson.com

Afghanistan Photographs 1971-1972

Afghanistan Photographs 1971-1972
Author: Adrian Panaro
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2020-06
Genre:
ISBN: 9781734720303

In 1971, Arthur Panaro joined the Peace Corps and was posted to Kabul, Afghanistan, to teach English at the University there. A year later, he was joined by his brother Adrian and the two set off to explore the regions surrounding Kabul and beyond. In the process, they shared a camera to record their impressions of the land and its people. This book documents their journey in photographs and essays.