My experience at Korea University International Winter Campus (KUIWC) 2020 高麗大學冬季學校經驗談
I initially registered for two subjects which are Strategic Management and Mass Media & Popular Culture in Korea. I soon realize only one subject is required for credit transfer at my home university rather than two. I then drop Mass Media & Popular Culture as I thought it may be nice to taste what commerce subject felt like. Things turn out I was bitterly disappointed with the unilateral teaching in Strategic Management and I was quite impressed by the quality of teaching in Mass Media & Popular Culture (taught by JIHOON PARK, School of Media & Communication, Korea University) when I sneak into the class.
Apart from Australian universities, the majority of students are from prestigious universities in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Indonesia. I found it quite awkward to initiate conversation (or you may say, small talks) with classmates. Like my Indonesian friend once mentioned, it felt like socializing in Asia is usually more formal (i.e. it has to be socializing-oriented occasions or events, etc) While I get used to approaching people in lecture settings (you do not necessarily develop a friendship after interacting with people in the class, but at least people do not seem like they don’t wanna be talked to..) It also seems like the class composition is already cliquey in the first place.
The lecturer did know the teaching content, however, he typically teaches for an hour, we then have a group presentation for around 40–50 minutes. After that, we watch a film or video clips regarding strategic management, there will be an in-class assignment in response to the news article given to us. There was barely discussion or student ask questions in the class, I kept thinking I could have done this subject on Coursera or anything digitally then as I honestly did not see the difference between taking it online and show up for in-person class. Though, I possibly have to admit that you could not expect students to suddenly begin expressing their ideas in universities when their opinions and independent thinking are discouraged and oppressed for 12 years. The other issue I have been wondering was that I was not sure whether the professor can offer many insights as he only stays in academia, it made me wonder whether business subjects shall be taught by people who have experience real-world business problems (and I could be wrong, feel free to comment below about what you think).
The class I attend in Mass Media & Popular Culture was about Korean Journalism, it is quite intriguing to know how freedom of expression is fluctuated based on the presidency. They have one students presentation about gender and the other on fake news, later on, presenters will raise discussion questions at the end of the presentation. However, I found some questions either too broad or ambiguous and despite there are attempts to generate the flow of discussion, it felts like it did not achieve in-depth discussion.
There was an Instagram challenge proposed by Korea University to promote their winter school, the award was announced during the closing ceremony. At that point, it weirdly made me ponder the question of whether short-term program is essentially the platform that yells to the privileged. I questioned once again about the value of tertiary education and local students’ experience at one of SKY (Seoul National, Korea, and Yonsei) universities. Apart from the branding and reputation of the universities are closely intertwined with the possibility of getting entry-level jobs in those big firms, I wonder whether universities have offer quality students support, alumni networks, educational opportunities other than short-term and semester exchange given that painfully skyrocketing tuition fees have become a financial burden to many pupils. Obviously, this is also applicable to other universities worldwide.
Overall, Korea University did a splendid job in airport pick-up (shuttle bus), entrance (they offer welcome packages that include facial masks and sunblock from sponsors) and closing ceremony (they provide graduation robes for students to take photos), email efficiency, cultural activities (many of them may have limited spots, they also offer Lotte World for free) and assisting dormitory check-in and check-out (they were actually organized by Korea University student). Seoul is also an enchanting city which has so many to offer from fashion, stationary to musicals (my personal bias).