'Why Did Thailand Become the Land of Smiles?', 'Why Is the United States Obsessed with Sex Scandals?', 'Why Are Korean Women Drawn to the "no-bottoms" and "diaper" fashion trends?', 'Why Is It Difficult To Ask Questions in Class in Korea?'

The questions may all seem surprising, but they are the product of a sustained interest in world cultures. Moreover, because the stories are drawn from students' direct experiences, the content is even more engaging.

This refers to the book 'World Cultures We Didn't Know' (Inmulgwa Sasangsa), written by Professor Kang Jun-man (Department of Journalism and Broadcasting), who has long shown great interest in world cultures and intercultural communication, together with 24 of his students.

The book compiles various questions about world cultures that 24 students who attended Professor Kang's 'Intercultural Communication' course submitted as reports.

The students introduce 'World Cultures We Didn't Know' based on their own experiences. From the students' perspective, they comfortably discuss differences between Korea and other countries that Koreans might not notice if they remained insular.

The topics are diverse, including humor and communication, sexuality and gender relations, the sociology of fashion, lifestyles and tastes, popular culture and sociology, interpersonal relations and collectivism, and university culture and communication.

For example, in 'Why Are Koreans Hostile to Homosexuality?', an episode from a trip to the Philippines in which the author was propositioned by a cross-dressing homosexual is used to compare attitudes toward sexual minorities in Korea and Southeast Asia. In 'Why Are Korean Women Drawn to the "no-bottoms" and "diaper" Fashion Trends?', the students explore contrasts such as our culture's permissiveness toward leg exposure versus Western cultures' greater tolerance for breast exposure.

While there are amusing episodes of cultural difference, the book also critically discusses social differences in Korea, such as Korean students who would not dare visit a psychiatric hospital, comparisons of debate culture in Korea and France, and the part-time job culture in which workers cannot even afford a cup of coffee after working for an hour.