Dongseo University has again expanded the opportunities available for its students to gain international experience, and its founding role in recent highly collaborative programs such as the Asia Summer Program (ASP) and the Dongseo Asia Initiatives Program (DAIP) is causing DSU to be recognized as an educational hub of Asia Pacific.
The ASP began in 2012 as a result of the joint efforts of five Asia University Presidents Forum (AUPF) member universities in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand. Its goal is to provide students with a chance to learn first-hand about the different cultures of Asia and to build international friendships through a shared learning experience. Twenty DSU students participated together with 130 students from the other universities as part of the first Asia Summer Program held at Petra Christian University in Surabaya, Indonesia.
This year DSU will host the ASP from July 8th to July 28th. Faculty and students from 33 universities in 11 countries will attend the 3-week, credit sharing program, and participating students will be able to select one or two course from the 30 different available options. Some examples of courses to be offered include, “Asian Communication Systems,” “Introduction to Asian Cinema,” “Gender, Culture, and Society: Asian and Global Perspectives,” and many more. In addition to the regularly scheduled classes, DSU has planned sightseeing and cultural activities including a Busan City Bus Tour. Students will also have the option to take an overnight trip to the ancient capital city of Gyeongju.
The second program recently created is the Dongseo Asia Initiatives Program, which provides students and supervising faculty with opportunities to conduct independent research projects in a country of their choice. Through DSU’s network of affiliations with 11 participating AUPF member universities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, visiting research teams will have a chance to learn about the diverse regions and cultures of Asia. In return for offers made by its partner universities to provide research facilities and accommodations, DSU agrees to make similar arrangements for any research teams wishing to use the facilities at DSU’s campuses in Busan, Korea.