Asia as Method in Korean Higher Education: Toward Transformative Possibilities

Abstract

This paper adapts Kuan-Hsing Chen’s Asia as Method to the Korean context to examine its potential for advancing social and epistemic justice in higher education. Drawing on two decades of teaching and research within English-medium instruction (EMI) in Korea, I employ a narrative autoethnographic approach to explore how decolonial thinking informs theory, pedagogy, and institutional practice. Through critical reflection, I analyze how long-term migration and academic engagement have reshaped my ontological and epistemological orientations, fostering decolonial moves in education. The findings reveal that sustained engagement in Korean EMI contexts can catalyze profound shifts in knowledge and practice, challenging Western epistemic dominance. By enacting Asia as Method within a Korean academic setting, this study offers a practical framework for international scholars to engage local intellectual traditions and reimagine EMI as a site of epistemic plurality, social justice, and transformative educational practice across Asia.