Event Title
Sa-Rang Community Church: Anchoring a New American Identity and Forging a New American Landscape
Location
Diamond 342
Start Date
1-5-2014 1:00 PM
End Date
1-5-2014 2:45 PM
Project Type
Presentation- Restricted to Campus Access
Description
America is shaped by movements of people, their cultures, and their markers of identity. The geographical and socio-cultural landscapes of the United States embody the robust multicultural identity of its communities ingrained in the immigrant experience. Particularly, for the Korean American community, the church has become the epicenter; it is a space of cultural preservation and identity formation. As the Korean American population in the U.S. shifts from a first-second generation dominant community to a second-third generation dominant community, it is important to trace the changing face of the group as a whole.This study focuses on Sa-Rang Community Church in Anaheim, California, as a case study to examine how context shapes place and place shapes context. I interpret the Korean American church as a vantage point where the first generation immigrant culture and American culture intersect to forge a new, hybrid Korean-American identity. This paper will explore the dialogical relationship between the immigrant church and its geography. The terms space and place are intertwined in my observation of Sa-Rang in its spatial contexts: 1111 Brookhurst Street, Orange County, and America. The paper will suggest that the church is one of the most important social assets for the Korean immigrant community in providing an active and central source of stability. My goal in this paper is to illuminate that the Korean American church anchors a new American identity and a new American landscape.
Faculty Sponsor
Laura Saltz
Sponsoring Department
Colby College. American Studies Program
CLAS Field of Study
Interdisciplinary Studies
Event Website
http://www.colby.edu/clas
ID
505
Sa-Rang Community Church: Anchoring a New American Identity and Forging a New American Landscape
Diamond 342
America is shaped by movements of people, their cultures, and their markers of identity. The geographical and socio-cultural landscapes of the United States embody the robust multicultural identity of its communities ingrained in the immigrant experience. Particularly, for the Korean American community, the church has become the epicenter; it is a space of cultural preservation and identity formation. As the Korean American population in the U.S. shifts from a first-second generation dominant community to a second-third generation dominant community, it is important to trace the changing face of the group as a whole.This study focuses on Sa-Rang Community Church in Anaheim, California, as a case study to examine how context shapes place and place shapes context. I interpret the Korean American church as a vantage point where the first generation immigrant culture and American culture intersect to forge a new, hybrid Korean-American identity. This paper will explore the dialogical relationship between the immigrant church and its geography. The terms space and place are intertwined in my observation of Sa-Rang in its spatial contexts: 1111 Brookhurst Street, Orange County, and America. The paper will suggest that the church is one of the most important social assets for the Korean immigrant community in providing an active and central source of stability. My goal in this paper is to illuminate that the Korean American church anchors a new American identity and a new American landscape.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2014/program/199