Western Illinois University Department of Geography

Posted March 14, 2005

Dr. Siyoung Park. Dr. Siyoung Park, Department of Geography, and Patricia Jones of the University Advising and Academic Support Center have received notification that their project entitled, "Understanding Korea Today: Traditional Values and Modern Technology" has been funded under the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects program of the U.S. Department of Education. Western Illinois University proposes a four-week seminar consisting of fourteen secondary school teachers and two WIU co-directors to take place in South Korea from June 15 to July 14 of 2005.

The overall objectives of the program include:

To strengthen the participating secondary teachers’ knowledge base.
To enhance U.S. teachers appreciation of Korean culture and technology.
To utilize the expanded knowledge base and cultural understanding of the participants to infuse greater appreciation and information about Korean culture and technology into instructional materials for their specific curriculum.
To disseminate curriculum materials and information to secondary school teachers and international educators throughout Illinois and the nation via presentations at professional meetings in subject areas and international education.

To provide an extensive introduction to the history, politics, culture, and modern technology of South Korea through learning experiences delivered by prominent scholars in these areas. The program is predicated on the need to enhance U.S. secondary educators’ experience and knowledge regarding this area of East Asia.

To provide this information, the program will utilize lectures, briefings, and observations of traditional cultural activities contrasted with state-of-the-art scientific technology, such as that found in the technopolis of Daejon. Combined with content from the program presentations will be visits to areas that are the subject of the lectures, for instance, Panmunjom, after the lecture on Korean history, North-South Korean relations, and Korean politics. Following the lecture series in Seoul, participants have the opportunity to experience both traditional values and modern technology in the once-rural areas of South Korea. The program has carefully interwoven such specialized areas as the Koheung Aerospace Center, the Uljin Nuclear Power Plant, and the pollution-free POSCO Gwang Yang Steel Plant with the ancient Andong Confucian Village, the UNESCO-designated World Heritage site of Gyong Ju, and the unique aquaculture of Jeju Island.