Choe has assigned committee projects since his class was first offered in 2006. Committees are formed randomly at the beginning of the semester and all ideas come from the students. Projects are carried out solely by them with advice from Choe.
All committees are given the same common goal, but each differs in their ideas.
One of the committees formed this semester is the Null Ui Me (an acronym meaning beauty of slow fashion) committee, which promotes “slow fashion” as opposed to “fast fashion,” a term to describe people’s preference for clothes of the latest fashion. Slow fashion does not go out of style and does not pollute the environment because it uses recycled or reused materials. The committee supports alternative sanitary pads and makes eco-bags with old hanging screens, undyed cloth and handdrawn pictures. All bags will be donated or sold.
The Onsaemiro (Korean adverb meaning “as it is”) provides solutions for managing the mounds of trash produced at student festivals. The committee has participated in off-campus festivals as well, such as the 4th World DJ Festival and the Seoul Jazz Festival 2010. Interviews and surveys were conducted with the planners and participants as a basic research toward a better festival culture. With the results, the committee came up with the idea to set more wastebaskets all over the campus during the festival season and place junk art, artwork using waste materials, around the wastebaskets to help people find them. The junk art movement criticizes traditional art for not using junk as a material and modern civilization for producing a lot of waste. The committee will also create its own cartoon characters and logos to promote the movement.
Another committee is the Green Campus, which pursues the goal of an eco-friendly campus through movie showings and treasure hunts. Their final showing, Blue God, will be held at 7 p.m. on May 20 at ECC B142. Students attending can drink tea for free if they bring their own tumblers. A treasure-hunt is scheduled on May 25 and 26, to provide a chance for students to get closer to the ecosystem on campus. Small notes will be hidden on campus along an ecology map produced by the committee. The committee also plans to request the university to install solar batteries.
Three more committees make up the class: Food Item, Environmental Education, and Design Capital Seoul. From May 24 to 26, all committees will display posters in front of the Ewha-POSCO Building as a wrap-up of the activities. Professor Yoon Ho-seob (Kookmin University) will attend on May 25 and draw pictures on old shirts for all participants who bring their own.
“The Ewha campus is praised as one of the most beautiful campuses in Korea. If students graduate without knowing about the nature on campus, it would be really deplorable. I hope that student activities will help others take interest in the environment and create a green campus,” said Choe.
Ewha Voice
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