Exchange Programs

UB signs agreements with universities in Korea, Taiwan

By PATRICIA DONOVAN
News Services Editor

The first agreement was initialed in Taiwan in February by Stephen Dunnett, vice provost for international education at UB, and officials of National Central University (NCU), one of Taiwan's leading research institutions. In March, Dunnett initialed an agreement authorizing the creation of exchange programs with leading universities in Seoul, Korea: Korea University and Sung Kyun Kwan University.

The UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will collaborate with the UB English Language Institute (ELI) to develop a summer program in English language and engineering for a group of NCU students who will come to UB in 1997.

At NCU, UB engineering students will be able to take courses in English and will be eligible for assistantships. Because of NCU's strong program in Chinese language and culture, it also is expected to be a major destination for UB students in Asian studies.

NCU is an important center for research in the basic and applied sciences and has, for several years, had ties with the UB Department of Civil Engineering. George C. Lee, Samuel P. Capen Professor of Engineering and director of the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at UB, has served as an honorary professor at NCU, and a number of his former students are on the NCU faculty.

In working out details of the Korean exchange programs, Dunnett was accompanied by Tai Kang, associate professor of sociology at UB who was educated in Korea and has important connections to major universities there.

Sung Kyun Kwan University is the old- est in East Asia, founded in 1398 as a Confucian academy. Today, it maintains a College of Confucian Studies and is famed for its programs in Korean and Asian studies, offered in English and Korean. The school also has an impressive program in international studies and offers opportunities for visiting students in scientific and technical fields. A number of UB graduates are on the faculty.

Korea University, founded in 1905, has 30,000 students enrolled in 85 departments. Its Korean Language and Cultural Research Center, which will be open to UB exchange students, offers Korean and Asian studies programs in English. In addition to its distinguished programs in science and engineering, KU has an excellent medical school that hopes to establish ties with its UB counterpart. Korea University also has an outstanding international studies program.

The UB Study Abroad Office is accepting applications from students interested in pursuing studies at any of these universities. For more information call 645-3912. n