Underwood International College, Yonsei University was founded in 2006 as a constituent college of Yonsei University. Based in Seoul and Incheon, South Korea, it is the first and only liberal arts college in the country that has all classes conducted in English.
History
Underwood International College, Yonsei University accepted its inaugural class in March 2006. Its first dean was Professor Jongryn Mo. Earlier, in October 2004, the President of Yonsei University had appointed Mo as Chairman of the "University Committee for New International College", and Mo contributed significantly to the early development of the institution.
In 2012, Underwood International College, Yonsei University housed the new Asian Studies and Techno-Art programmes. It has since expanded to include the Integrated Social Sciences Division, to make up the comprehensive interdisciplinary Humanities and Social Sciences Field.
Overview
Underwood International College, Yonsei University is the first and only liberal arts college in the Republic of Korea, and the only college at Yonsei University to conduct all classes in English. It has small classes taught by over 100 Korean and international faculty, many who hold an undergraduate and/or graduate degree from an Ivy League and/or Oxbridge university. For the class of 2013, Underwood International College, Yonsei University received 1,713 applications for 225 student places across three academic divisions â€" an acceptance rate of 13.13%.
Academic Fields
Majors
- Underwood Division
- Comparative Literature and Culture
- Economics
- International Studies
- Life Science and Biotechnology
- Political Science and International Relations
- Asian Studies Division
- Asian Studies
- Techno Art Division
- Creative Technology Management
- Culture and Design Management
- Information and Interaction Design
- Integrated Social Sciences Division
- Justice and Civil Leadership
- Quantitative Risk Management
- Science, Technology and Policy
- Sustainable Development and Cooperation
- Integrated Science and Engineering Division
- Bio-Convergence
- Energy & Environmental Science and Engineering
- Nano Science and Engineering
Minors
- Korean Studies
- Certificate in Creative Writing
Academic Partnerships and Exchange Programmes
Bilateral Exchange Programmes
UIC maintains collegial ties with Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. As of 2013, it has signed exchange partnerships with institutions such as Barnard College (Columbia University), Waseda University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Geneva and University College Utrecht.
Trilateral Exchange Programmes
Along with University of Hong Kong and Keio University in Japan, Underwood International College, Yonsei University was a co-founder of the Three-Campus Comparative East Asian Programme. The programme, which commenced in 2008, allows undergraduate students to take a year of study across the three campuses.
Career Development Center
Underwood International College, Yonsei University's Career Development Center provides students with services and resources to guide and prepare themselves for successful careers. It regularly posts a list of job and internship opportunities, and sponsors regular workshops for students in every academic semester.
Global Career Tours
Since 2008, Underwood International College, Yonsei University has organised subsidised overseas trips to provide students with opportunities to visit international organisations, companies, and institutions to gain exposure to the working environment. Past trips have involved travel to major financial centers such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Singapore.
Controversy
According to Dr. Stephanie K. Kim's article "Western faculty ‘flight risk’ at a Korean university and the complexities of internationalisation in Asian higher education," faculty retention and administrative transparency are systemic complications in Underwood International College. Through the interviewing of faculty of Underwood International College, her article observes that Western faculty members in Underwood International College face challenges that could lead to "mass departure" of the Western faculty.
The UIC faculty body is mostly young and untenured having a little power in decision making while the central administration dictates it. A UIC faculty member comments, “At times, it seems [there is] an utter lack of transparency. Well, it certainly decreases job satisfaction for faculty members.†In 2011, the main base of UIC was moved from Seoul to Incheon despite the opposition from students and the faculty. This one-sided usage of power reflects also to the students: “Some of the faculty members that I was closer to, they would be very disturbed by the sometimes very one-sided ways in which the upper echelons…changing rules and even faculty meetings. Knowing that was disturbing to us, too.†According to a Korea Times article, most students opposed the school’s decision to move the campus.
It is written in the article that many UIC faculty members leave within few years and new members are hired to replace them, "resulting in a constantly rotating cycle of newly hired faculty members." Nearly all of the interviewed Western faculty members were Korean Americans or of Korean heritage, and almost all of them went to UIC because “they could not find a suitable academic job in the United States or another Western country.†UIC faculty member John Frank attempted to refute Stephanie Kim's assertions in his blog writing by pointing out unpublished statistics. Stephanie Kim followed up with a comment that addresses the points of contention he raises, however.
In addition, previous research, conducted by researchers from Stanford University observed that diversity and innovation continue to remain as challenges for Korean universities and that the foreign academics are often perceived as "temporary skilled labor" and "second-tier" scholars.
References
External links
- Official Website