English | ‘Re-Start Project’ in dongguk University
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Author Jogye On14-02-14 16:10 Views17,000 Comments0Related links
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Kim spearheads ‘Re-Start Project’ to bring change to university
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| Kim Hee-ok, president of Dongguk University |
When Kim Hee-ok, president of Dongguk University, took office in March 2011, he pledged to nurture the school under a so-called Re-Start Project in a bid to revive its former glory.
“I knew it was time to take a step forward to make our school one of the nation’s most prestigious universities. We used to focus on academic endeavor, but now is the right time to pursue more balanced education through fostering science, engineering and biotechnology,” he said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.
Dongguk was established in 1906 under the auspices of Buddhist monks. For more than 10 decades, it has played a pivotal role in promoting education in liberal arts and humanities, including the study of Buddhism.
Kim now believes that higher educational institutions such as Dongguk have to reflect the dynamics of modern society.
“I believe we live in the age of integration of academic disciplines,” he said.
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The Biomedical Campus in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, houses Dongguk University Hospital, one of the key elements of a biomedical hub the school is seeking to create. / Courtesy of Dongguk University |
The education curriculum in Korea has so far been firmly divided into two categories: liberal arts and general science. Kim stressed that schools should strike a balance between the two by fostering other science disciplines such as medicine and biotechnology.
He further explained that the school has been achieving excellent results in the last three years ― Dongguk was ranked third place in the internalization section among Korean universities by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asian University Ranking in 2013. It took 17th place among Asian institutions.
For the full ariticle please refer to http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/02/181_151065.html
