My current project focuses on Naebang-gasa, literary works and songs of Joseon-era women from the 18th to 20th centuries, for my Asian Studies thesis. Upon receiving advice from the Asian Studies Department faculty, I am working these next few weeks to analyze primary source documents, all of which are available in an online archive courtesy of the Korean Studies Institute. Throughout this first week in Seoul, I’ve been categorizing the scans by genre (i.e. songs for educating women, travel, lamentation of aging) in addition to listing their respective production dates, authors if known, summary of contents, past researcher notes, size in centimeters, and clans of origin. I’m utilizing the genres provided by the Korean Studies Institute website, but I’m anticipating that I will have to brainstorm a personal categorization system given that there are a few discrepancies between the categorization system of the Korean Studies Institute and that listed in the 2022 UNESCO petition. I’ve only just started but I’m looking forward to the next few weeks ahead!!