Mapae Grant Award
World History Digital Education Foundation [WHDE]
Korean War Legacy Foundation [KWLF]
The World History Digital Education Foundation and the Korean War Legacy Foundation are honored to have a cadre of dedicated educators sharing information about Korea and the Korean War to teachers throughout the United States. To recognize the outstanding work of these teachers, we created the Mapae Award.
The Mapae Award is based on the medallion used by officials of the central government during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The King’s hand-picked special officials, called “Eosa” (literally meaning the official dispatched by the King) traveled through regional areas on public duties and primarily prosecuted corrupt officials in the provinces. In most instances, the King secretly appointed Eosa, who were often the first prize awardee in Joseon’s national civil service examination called Gwageo. Eosa were given a medal, the Mapae, which identified their special status as the King’s appointed secret prosecutor and gave them the right to conscript horses for transportation to the provinces. Eosa with Mapae were allowed to have a special access to saddle horses kept at government-run post stations upon presenting their Mapae medal. The bearer of the medal, which was issued by a government agency called the Sangseowon (Office of Seals and Badges), was entitled to use the number of horses carved on the badge and was typically accompanied by a station attendant who guided him to the next station approximately 16 kilometers away. The attendant returned to his home station with the horse under his charge, while the traveler continued on his journey via other stations to his final destination.
Similar to the Joseon officials, teachers who have been awarded the medal will be provided resources, based on the number of horses on their medal, to help them share knowledge throughout the United States about Korean history, South Korea’s simultaneous rapid economic development and democratization, and the Korean War.
One Horse
Qualification
- Attend a WHDE or KWLF workshop and successfully complete all workshop requirements
Available Resources
- Up to $500 to host a workshop for at least 12 teachers. Teachers may also propose a special project related to Korea or the Korean War.
- Funding may be used for food, speaker honorariums, materials and/or room rental.
- Teachers must submit a budget and be pre-approved before making any expenditure. Receipts or invoices must be produced before any payments are made.
- NOTE: We are happy to assist in developing a workshop program.
Two Horses
Qualification
- Successfully complete a workshop or special project at the one horse level.
Available Resources
- Up to $1000 to host a workshop for at least 15 teachers. Teachers may also propose a special project related to Korea or the Korean War.
- Funding may be used for food, speaker honorariums, materials and/or room rental. Teachers at the two-horse level may use $250 of the grant funds as a personal honorarium.
- Teachers must submit a budget and be pre-approved before making any expenditure. Receipts or invoices must be produced before any payments are made.
- NOTE: We are happy to assist in developing a workshop program.
Three Horses
Qualification
- Successfully complete a workshop or special project at the two-horse level.
Available Resources
- Up to $1500 to host a workshop for at least 20 teachers. Teachers may also propose a special project related to Korea or the Korean War.
- Funding may be used for food, speaker honorariums, materials, room rental. Teachers at the three-horse level may use $350 of the grant funds as a personal honorarium.
- Teachers must submit a budget and be pre-approved before making any expenditure. Receipts or invoices must be produced before any payments are made.
- NOTE: We are happy to assist teachers in developing a workshop program.
Four Horses
Qualification
- Teachers at the four-horse level are trusted regular consultants for the foundation. All teachers at this level will go through an application and interview process.
Available Resources
- Teachers at the four-horse level will be tasked with special projects and will be given an appropriate budget to complete all tasks.
Five Horses
Qualification
- Teachers at the five-horse level are project managers who have shown excellent leadership qualities.
Available Resources
- Teachers at the five-horse level will develop special projects and workshops and will be given an appropriate budget to complete all tasks.
2025 Discover Korea Research Visit Fellowship Application
Applications are due January 24th, 2025. Notifications will be made by the end of February 2025.
Date
The 2025 Discover Korea Research Visit will take place from June 30th - July 10th (tentative- dates may change slightly). Fellows should use June 29th as a travel day.
About the Application
Our application requires the following: short answer responses, a recommendation letter from a colleague, a recommendation letter from a supervisor, copy of your resume, and a short video (no more than 2 minutes).
Cost
Fellows are required to pay a $400.00 deposit by March 1st, which will be refunded once a fellow has completed their requirements to the foundation. Fellows are also responsible for paying half of their total airfare (domestic and international) by April 15th. Participants will purchase their airline and half of the cost will be reimbursed at the end of the travel in July upon completion of requirements.
Trip
Although this fellowship is listed as a trip, the commitment is more than just travel to Korea. Fellows complete four cycles to fulfill their requirements to the foundation.
The pre-trip cycle focuses on preparing fellows for their trip by building content about Korea while at the same time building knowledge of the foundation. In this cycle, fellows will enroll in an online class in which they will have assigned readings about Korean history and culture, participate on class discussion boards, and attend webinars pertaining to themes covered in the readings. At the same time the fellows will participate in completing a task for the foundation. In the past, those tasks have included transcribing interviews, conducting interviews with Korean War veterans, and field-testing educational material.
The second cycle is the trip cycle which will last from June 30th - July 10th. The trip will include daily excursions that require fellows to dig deeper into the complexity of the history, culture, and development of the Korean peninsula, and specifically South Korea. This includes travel to important sites of the Korean War such as the Demilitarized Zone, historic sites such as Geyongbokgung Palace, and unique experiences such as staying at a Buddhist temple. Each excursion is intentional and looks to build on fellows’ knowledge and understanding of Korea with the purpose of impacting education.
The third cycle, or post-trip cycle, is focused on fellows sharing what they have learned. In this cycle, fellows are required to do two tasks that highlight how their experience will impact their educational practice. The first will have fellows provide proof of a presentation about their travel experience to a district, state, or regional organization. The second task will have fellows develop a lesson plan that focuses on Korean culture and/or history. A template will be provided by the foundation for this exercise. The presentation and lesson plan are both due by 12/31/24.
The fourth cycle of the trip is the eternal phase. After completion of the lesson plan, participants will become members of the Korean Fellows Alumni Association. This community group will receive newsletter and e-mail updates from the foundation with information on teaching Korean history and culture. Furthermore, alumni fellows will be added into the Korean Fellow Alumni Association Facebook page in order to stay connected and share ideas with other fellows.
Any participant who does not complete the required tasks will be considered to be unsuccessful and will not be considered a foundation fellow. Unsuccessful participants will forfeit their $400 deposit and will be invoiced for an additional $300 to help defray any loss to the foundation.
About World Digital Education Foundation
The advent of digital technology challenges conventional ways of educating students and creates unlimited opportunities deliver digital educational materials. In this transition from the analogue era to the digital era, the World History Digital Education Foundation will lead at the K-12 level in the study of global history by:
- Creating innovative digital resources in world history education such as story maps, multi-media curriculums, interactive websites, and virtual reality experiences.
- Developing one-to-one technology capability programs for high needs schools lacking the financial capacity for digital educational technology and equipment.
- Training social studies teachers in the use of technology and engaging them to write new curriculums and lesson plans.
- Developing a collaborative online community of educators who will share best practices in social studies education.
- Educating students on the use of digital resources for research and learning
About the Korea Foundation
The Korea Foundation was established in 1991 to promote awareness and understanding of Korea and to enhance goodwill and friendship among the international community through its cultural, academic and intellectual exchange activities and programs. Some of its major works include: providing support for Korean studies overseas, organizing/supporting international forums, assisting research institutions/think tanks around the world in their research, conferences and publications, and establishing Korean galleries in museums abroad. Currently, the foundation has two branch offices in the United States: the Washington D.C. Office and the L.A. Office, which opened in 2005. Both offices serve as liaisons to the main headquarter in Korea and overseas and manage the foundation’s projects and programs in North/ South America and the Caribbean Islands.
Trip Director
Bobbie Downs Research Trip Director
Foundation Leadership
Dr. Jongwoo Han President, World History Digital Education Foundation
Joseph Karb Executive Director, World History Digital Education Foundation
If you have any questions, please contact: Bobbie Downs at bdowns@worldhistoryde.org.