Students can visit South Korea via new class

While most students will be celebrating their first week of the 2008 summer vacation, 20 select students will welcome the summer in an entirely different fashion.\nAs a part of the Scholars in Global Citizenship Program, students will spend 10 days in Seoul, South Korea, studying everything its society and culture have to offer.\nThe trip is a part of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs’ newest class, which is offered the second eight weeks of the spring semester and will then be followed with a trip to Yonsei University, one of the most elite colleges in Asia. \nIt’s off the beaten track,” said professor Matt Auer. “It’s an unusual class because it’s coupled with this 10-day study abroad opportunity.”\nSPEA, in conjunction with Yonsei, will arrange the students’ travel and housing needs for the trip, which is tentatively planned for May 14-28.\nOnce in South Korea, students will get a chance to put what they learned in the classroom to practical use, said Auer, who will be instructing the class and leading the trip.\n“I want to get students really interested in international affairs; whether they go out to do additional coursework or not doesn’t really matter,” he said. “I just hope people get a strong appreciation for the world outside of IU and the U.S. and that they are always thinking of the world outside their classes or jobs. The world is getting smaller and what happens in South Korea affects Indiana.”\nThe class will focus on globalization and its effects on every part of human life, specifically political and economic reforms. Auer said South Korea is an excellent test site for the theories in the class, because of its willingness to open up politically and economically to the rest of the world.\n“In a way, the trip to South Korea is about getting a sense of how globalization is shaping politics and economics, especially in countries that are emerging as leaders and political systems that are rapidly changing,” Auer said.\nAuer wants his students to get a feel for globalization’s effects “not just in the classroom, but in a very palpable way.” \nThe trip will be Auer’s second visit to South Korea and Yonsei. Eighteen years ago he spent ten weeks in Seoul, and he hopes this trip will have the same effect on his students as it did on him almost two decades ago.\n“For me it was a life-changing event,” he said. “It cemented my interest, my passion for international affairs. That experience is really indelible for me. It has stayed with me a lot, and I think it will be the same for the IU students.”\nAuer also sees the class as a good fit for IU to help balance the large number of Korean students.\n“There are over 1,000 Koreans at IU, making them the largest foreign nationals, and it would help even us out,” he said. “It is very unbalanced and it’s high time we spent time in South Korea learning their culture, because they are sending us such fine students.”\nParticipants in the Scholars in Global Citizenship Program will be determined via application, which are available after Sept. 1 through the SGCP’s Web site. According to the Web site, applicants must be at least an undergraduate sophomore with a 3.0 GPA or better. Applications are due Oct. 5 and then a committee of faculty and professionals will select up to 20 participants. Scholarships are available through the Hutton Honors College and the Office of International Studies. An informational meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Hutton Honors College, 324 N. Jordan Avenue