지역연구의 종합성, 학제성과 한국의 MENA지역 연구

Synthesis, Interdisciplinary of the Area Studies and MENA Area Studies in Korea

Area studies began long ago on a travel diary but today area studies which is characterized by practicality, synthesis and integration, interdisciplinary, consilience germinated during World War I and began to become a major study at U.S.A. in the postwar period. Area studies began at the level of ‘practicality and utility , which required synthesis, interdisciplinary, convergent and consilience research. At the academic level, however, there has been a debate over academic hegemony between the disciplines(division studies) and area studies. After a fierce debate, there is a convergence between ‘the methodology of division studies’ and ‘the regional specificity of area studies’. Korea s MENA area studies began in 1980 with the publication of the Korean Journal of Middle East Studies, and it began to grow into a practical and interdisciplinary discipline from the 1990s, with the support of area research by the government and the establishment of ‘a graduate school of international and area studies’ in universities. However, when analyzing the papers published in the KJMES, some purpose has been achieved, but there are still insufficient aspects in terms of research methods called ‘area studies’.