Ewha Womans University Day celebrated in Beijing

        Led by Ewha President Lee Bae-yong, 60 people, including professors and student representatives, flew to Beijing to celebrate Ewha Womans University Day at Peking University (PKU), a one-day event that was held to further exchange between the two universities.

   It was the first time for a Korean university to be the focus of this event. Previous university days at PKU included those for Yale, Cambridge, and Waseda University.

   This one-day event held on May 17 consisted of an opening ceremony; the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to renew commitment since the first MOU in 1996; special lectures by Ewha’s professors; and music and dance performances.

   The opening ceremony was held in the morning at the North Hall of the PKU Library. A total of about 120 people participated including the president of PKU, faculty, and students from the History and Korean Language departments.

   The President of Peking University, Xu Zhihong said, “In the context of bilateral friendly cooperation between China and South Korea, PKU and Ewha are holding the University Day to further communication and exchange.” Xu stressed the fact that Ewha was the first women’s institution in Korea and that it is now gearing up to be a global institution.

   Ewha President, Lee Bae-yong, gave a speech and a lecture. Lee said that Ewha is very happy that this event could take place at a time when the pear trees (a symbol of Ewha) were in blossom. “We hope to closely interact with one another and both contribute to the globalization of universities in Asia,”said Lee, adding that Peking University Day will be held at Ewha this coming fall. In the lecture, Lee explained how Ewha played a significant role in Korea’s modern history.

   After lunch, Ewha’s distinguished professors in the fields of science and sociology gave special lectures to PKU students. Professor Choy Jin-ho (Nano Sciences) gave a lecture titled “Bio-resorbable inorganic nanoparticles for medical application,” and said, “It was very impressive to see graduate students listening attentively. The questions they asked were sharp, which reflects the prestige of PKU.”

The highlight of the event was the music and dance performances by the professors and students from the Orchestral Instruments and Korean Music and Dance departments.

   During the event, there were numerous helping hands including Ewha alumnae studying in Beijing, Koreans at PKU and Chinese students majoring in Korean language.

    Liu Qianying (International Studies, 4), a student representative of Ewha, who set up visual displays to explain Ewha’s history said, “As a Chinese person myself, it was a great honor for me to participate in this event. People were so surprised at Ewha’s long history and were interested in how women’s history had developed in Korea.”