James Palais

James Palais (1934-2006) was an American scholar of Korean history. He was Professor of Korean History at the University of Washington for 33 years and was a key figure in establishing the Korean Studies field in the United States. He did this both through his own publications, and through the training of graduate students who are now teaching Korean studies at most of the important centers of Korean Studies in Korea and the United States. He was also well known for the collaborative work he did with Bruce Cumings.

Early years

Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, Palais graduated from Harvard University in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in American history. He then joined the army thinking he would be allowed to study Russian at the Monterey Language Institute. However, the Russian language classes were full when he arrived, but Korean was available, so the fateful turn was made. Having had his interest in East Asia sparked, he acquired his MA in Japanese History from Yale in 1960.

Palais studied at the Kyujanggak from 1963 to 1965, and completed his Ph. D. through Harvard in 1967. There he worked with Ed Wagner, one of only two historians in the United States then specializing in Korean history.

He taught from 1967 to 1969 at Norfolk State College, and joined the University of Washington faculty in 1970. As a professor, he was justly famous for making his students work hard, master vast amounts of material, and think critically about Korean studies. He became chairman of the Korean Studies Program there, and in 2002 he was made chairman of the East Asian Studies Institute as well.

University of Washington

Palais' arrival in 1968 made the University of Washington program the largest Korean Studies Program on the North American mainland-with three full-time scholars devoted exclusively to the study of Korea. His 372 page Politics and Policy in Traditional Korea, published by Harvard University Press in 1975, was praised as "a cornerstone of 19th century Korean history".

From 1974-77, Palais edited Occasional Papers on Korean Studies, as known as the Journal of Korean Studies, which was edited out of the University of Washington until 1988. Palais' political interests resulted in the Asia Watch report "Human Rights in Korea" (Washington, 1986), but perhaps his greatest work was the 1230-page "Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions: Yu Hyongwon and the late Choson Dynasty", a comprehensive overview of Choson Dynasty (1392-1910) Korean institutions as discussed by the eminent 17th century Korean statesman, Yu Hyongwon. This book was awarded the John Whitney Hall book prize as the best book on Japan or Korea in 1998.

Palais was recognized with the Yongjae Paek Nakchun Award from Korea's Yonsei University in 1995, and by The Association for Asian studies with a lifetime achievement award in Asian Studies in 2001. Palais was Dean for International Studies at Sungkyunkwan University in Korea for three years. He also continued his activity at the University of Washington with editing, writing, and part time teaching in the Korea Studies Program until hospitalized with his final illness in the spring of 2005. The James B. Palais Professorship of Korean History has been established in his honor. [ Much of the above appeared in a memorial written by Clark Sorenson. My thanks go out to him.]

Books and chapters

*cite book|title=Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, vol. 2|editor=Peter H. Lee, ed.|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|year=1996|id=ISBN 0-231-07914-1|chapter="Land Reform," "Currency," "Slavery"
*cite book|title=Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions: Yu Hyongwon and the Late Choson Dynasty|publisher=University of Washington Press|location=Seattle|year=1996|id=ISBN 0-295-97455-9
*cite book|title=Views on Korean Social History|publisher=Yonsei University Press|location=Seoul|year=1998|id=ISBN 89-7141-441-3

Editor:
*cite book|title=History of Korea, 4 volumes.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|year=forthcoming|id=

References

External links

* [http://www.clickkorea.org/koreanists/basic_detail.asp?psn_cd=USAP001948&search=palais&block=0&page=1&e_name=PALAIS,%20JAMES%20B. Koreanists profile]
* [http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200608/kt2006080917475852920.htm Korea Herald obituary]
* [http://web.skku.edu/~sktimes/251/spotlight.html Sungkyun Times profile]
* [http://www.nwasianweekly.com/editorial/palais.htm 2002 profile by Chris Jordan]
* [http://hnn.us/articles/1235.html Editorial on G.W. Bush's Korea policy, by Palais]