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August 19, 2025Submit a pitch: “The K-Culture Effect”
For this upcoming Spark Magazine series, we invite scholars to provide critical analysis and insights about the impact of Korean popular culture and consider its consequences, whether positive or negative.
Korean popular culture, also known as K-culture, encompasses various genres, including K-music (also referred to as K-pop), K-drama, K-film, K-literature, K-beauty, and K-food, and has gained significant popularity worldwide. Psy (Ssai), a male solo artist who debuted in 2001, was the first artist to have his video, “Gangnam Style,” reach one billion views on YouTube. The famous BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) is a world-renowned K-pop boy band that has won many globally recognized awards. One recent K-drama, “Squid Game,” is a popular Netflix streaming show. "Parasite," a Korean film, also won several globally renowned awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, at the 2020 Oscars. While K-culture resonates with a broad audience, it holds a powerful sway over the younger generation.
This Spark series will be curated by Dr. Victoria Kim, whose recent research explores the meaning-making of the Korean Wave for Asian American college students. For the upcoming Spark Magazine series, we invite scholars who can share insights on the effects of the Korean Wave and its impact worldwide. Submissions may address topics such as (but are not limited to):
- How has the Korean Wave (Hallyu) affected global perceptions of Korea and Korean identity?
- What roles do Korean dramas (K-dramas) and cinema play in shaping global narratives about Korean society?
- How do transnational fan communities of K-culture form and interact across different cultures?
- How has the international popularity of Korean pop culture influenced the spread and learning of the Korean language worldwide?
- How does the global spread of the Korean Wave impact societies, both positively and negatively?
- Beyond its cultural impact, how has the Korean Wave influenced or impacted various aspects of society, such as education, the economy, social justice movements, perceptions of demographics (e.g., recognizing heterogeneity among Asians), and mental health?
Beyond its cultural impact, how has the Korean Wave influenced or impacted various aspects of society, such as education, the economy, social justice movements, perceptions of demographics (e.g., recognizing heterogeneity among Asians), and mental health?
Timeline & Guidelines
Scholars are invited to submit a pitch by Friday, August 29. We anticipate publishing in Spring 2026. Please consider the following:
- Pitches will be reviewed by considering public accessibility, grounded in scholarship, and clear writing organization and style.
- Authors must have previously produced scholarship or creative work related to the topic to ground the proposed essay.
- Invited contributors must review the writing guidelines to submit a first draft (800–1,200 words) within four weeks of being accepted and will be assigned a reviewer. The editorial team centers a social justice approach to the review and publication process.
Keep in mind that the audience for Spark Magazine is not limited to any specific discipline or educational level. Envision the reader as someone with a broad understanding of research and scholarship, but without specific knowledge of your field.
If you have any questions about the pitch submission process, please contact managing editor Laura Sanchez-Parkinson at lasanche@umich.edu.