This summer, the Ewha Campus Complex (ECC) was crowded with students from foreign countries shouldering backpacks and carrying books. They all looked different and spoke diverse languages, but had membership in the Ewha International Summer College program in common.
Ewha was the first Korean university to start on international summer program, in 1971 among all Korean universities. Only seven students from other countries and one Ewha student participated at that time. But the international summer program in 1971 has a special meaning as it was the starting point of Ewha’a globalization. The program was special as it was the first time that male students from other countries were allowed to take classes at Ewha. At that time, the school even prohibited men from entering the campus.
Later on, Ewha established its first joint summer curriculum with University of Kansas under the name of the Kansas at Ewha Program. The joint program with Kansas provided Korean Studies and Asian Studies lectures. This program was considered remarkable because the subjects that students took at Ewha were approved for credit at the University of Kansas.
The International Summer College this year was upgraded as part of the Global Ewha 2010 Project. The name was changed from the Ewha International Co-ed Summer Program to the Ewha International College, and the program was given the theme “Dive into Korea.” The administrative system was also changed. The original 6-week straight program that existed until last year was divided into two separate sections; a 4-week intensive academic program and a 2-week cultural studies program.
The first session ran from June 22 to July 17, Monday through Thursday. In this section, students were able to take two courses for six credits. Including courses offered in Korean as part of Ewha’s regular summer school, about 200 courses in areas such as Korean Culture, Korean Studies, Law, Politics, Fine Arts, Economics, and Business were available to international students.
“About 160 exchange students from 11 different countries and 40 Ewha students joined the first session of summer college. The number of international students increased by an average of 40 percent compared to 2008,” said Yoo Jung-a, the program coordinator. Students were also able to participate in several field trips such as those to Taekwondo and B-boy performances.
The second session, intensively focusing on the cultural sphere, was treated as an independent three-credit course called Introductory Korean Studies, which aimed to provide international students the opportunities to experience and learn Korean culture. It ran from August 3 to 14, and involved courses on Korean culture and visits to major tourist attractions such as museums, broadcasting stations, and art galleries. Participants also traveled to Jeonju City, Cheolla Province, as a part of the program’s Cultural Excursion Trip for three days.
While in Jeonju City, participants stayed in a hanok (traditional Korean house) and took part in cultural activities such as talchoom (traditional Korean mask dance). Yoo said, “The second section was carefully prepared to attract more international students. For example, the program started in August as Japanese students can’t come for summer programs in July due to Japan’s different academic term.”
The International Summer College is famous among international students for its top-notch Korean language program. This year as well, highly intensive and well organized Korean language courses were provided. After a placement test, students were assigned to appropriate classes according to their levels. Students who took the second section were required to take Korean language courses, while they were optional for students who only took the first section.
The school expects more Ewha students to take part in the International Summer College because they can take credits and learn English at the same time. Also they can study with international students and well-known professors without going abroad.
