지역학 연구와 구술자료 활용

Abstract

Despite the contribution of the ‘regional(area) studies’ on the promotion of local communities the discipline has faced numerous challenges for the past 3 decades. The lack of ‘locality’ of respective regions and the misguided perception of a ‘region’ that is often referred to as ‘centralization’ have become a major impediment to creating a sense of co-ownership in a constant way. Under the circumstance, it is imperative to encourage a social discourse about communication and consideration of ‘locality’ while promoting microscopic and macroscopic aspects of the regional studies. Finding a way to remove the generation gap among intellectuals in the academia is equally important. At the same time, the significance of nurturing the next leaders in the field should also not be ignored. By doing so, it is expected that a social discourse about the regional studies will be enhanced both theoretically and practically. Such a discourse on regional studies should encompass a wide range of areas including practical achievement-cultural content and storytelling source that can contribute not only to academic achievements but the lives of locals. The efforts to discover verbal resources should be made, focusing on location and locality. Also, the creativity of the local, public cultural resources should be enhanced. Where the discipline will be headed in the years to come should begin from a new perception of the regional studies as public culture and psychological resources. Given that the study results are produced in various forms that can benefit local people, it is expected that there will be an increase in the popularity of and demand for the discipline, ultimately helping to further promote the study area. Another challenge can be found in the political aspects of the discipline. Humanities intellectuals in the region should be blamed on this too. They should make concerted efforts not only to value the fundamentals but to support the spread of the benefits that the studies can bring about. For its part, the local government should overhaul existing regional studies research institutes to encourage more participation of think tanks with technical competitiveness into the movement. In addition, ways to communicate with local intellectuals and have local communicates enjoy the benefits of the promotion in the context of giving back to society should also be considered.