JTF Update Report (March, 2015)
1. Question 1: * Please provide us with a short (approximately 200
words), narrative description of the progress since your previous report. This
summary should be written for a general audience and be suitable for
publication in a newsletter like the Templeton Report. Such progress may
include things like research findings, publications, important media coverage,
fundraising successes, etc. (maximum of 1,300 characters).
According to my research
schedule, I have mapped briefly a geographical distribution of major religious
organizations across Guro Digital
Valley and Suwon Divination Street.
This mapping is a preliminary research for examining how a pattern of religious
competition actually works in each area. It is found that the former is
relatively more spacious, modernized, crowded
than the latter. Based on such environmental differences, I am working
on reviewing existing empirical studies of the relation between urban life and
religious growth.
2. Question 2: * Please explain whether or not you are on schedule to
complete your project’s activities, Outputs and Outcomes. If you are behind
schedule please describe the challenges you are facing and your plans for
getting back on track (maximum 1,800 characters).
The major obstacle to keeping my project timeline is in
failing to receive research funding in accordance with the project schedule. I
have a financial difficulty in reserving a visitation of religious
organizations, having a coffee time with their members, participating in their religious
activities, purchasing books, and the like. If my research activities are
financially supported timely, I am sure that there will be more detailed field
works on specific features of religious suppliers and demanders in each area.
With a field research of each area, I will continue to review theoretical
approaches appropriate to each case during the next term.
3. Question 3: We are interested in learning about any recent, or
upcoming, private or public events that are related to this grant. Please list
any such events below (maximum 1,300 characters).
JTF Update Report (June, 2015)
1. Question 1: * Please provide us with a short (approximately 200
words), narrative description of the progress since your previous report. This
summary should be written for a general audience and be suitable for
publication in a newsletter like the Templeton Report. Such progress may
include things like research findings, publications, important media coverage,
fundraising successes, etc. (maximum of 1,300 characters).
As I reported in the previous report, I have almost
finished collecting, classifying, and reviewing various historical documents of
digital valleys and divination valleys in Seoul. The documents involve many
materials concerning the process of an external expansion of the metropolitan Seoul.
The valleys with a specific end were established artificially by political
bureaucrats who tried to construct the city of Seoul as a center of
modernization and industrialization since 1960s. The former is the most representative
beneficiary of such policy, while the latter is one of major victims.
Through
mapping a geographical distribution of religious organizations in both valleys,
I pay much attention to a remarkable fact that there is a distinct lack of churches
or temples, while there are lots of religious organizations surrounding
divination valleys. This implies that religious groups enjoy a weak competition
for survival within digital valleys, and face a strong competition within divination
valleys. A more interesting thing is that
these digital valleys are surrounded by a few Chinese communities, a river, and
a relatively low-income residence area. As a result, I feel the necessity of
doing more research on such external conditions of digital valleys in order to
know how they influence a growth of religious organizations.
2. Question 2: * Please explain whether or not you are on schedule to
complete your project’s activities, Outputs and Outcomes. If you are behind
schedule please describe the challenges you are facing and your plans for
getting back on track (maximum 1,800 characters).
As
scheduled in the project timeline of Seoul Team, it seems that my research
activities are on the right track. I have a regular meeting with research assistants
and frequently visit the metropolitan Seoul for designing my two-year survey.
In addition, I keep in touch with a few pastors, monks, bureaucrats, shamans,
and fortunetellers who are operating
within my research area. I don’t have any problem in doing my research project.
3. Question 3: We are interested in learning about any recent, or
upcoming, private or public events that are related to this grant. Please list
any such events below (maximum 1,300 characters).
-
The 52nd
Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival (October 7th, 2015 ~ October 11st, 2015)
This is one of the
largest culture and tourism festivals in Korea. It preserves the spirit of
Hwaseong Fortress, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, and commemorates the
filial affection and innovations of King Jeonjo, who built the fortress. Over
the years, Suwon Hwaseong Festival has become established as a quintessential
regional cultural festival that promotes the traditional culture and tourism of
Suwon. Divination valley in Suwon is
connected to the Hwaseong Fortress.
(For more information, http://english.swcf.or.kr/?p=19)