Campus globalization isn't all white kids, editors say

K-campus

Published: 22 May. 2022, 16:06 Updated: 03 Mar. 2023, 17:38

Campus globalization isn't all white kids, editors say

From left, chief editors of The Sogang Herald, Ewha Voice, The Hanyang Journal, The Yonsei Annals and The SNU Quill [PARK SANG-MOON]

Top university journalists say integration of foreign students still needs work

When Korean universities try to prove how global they are, they often cite the number of international students on their campuses. Diversity is shown by the variety of countries, inclusion by their English-language courses and scholarships.

But what truly defines globalization? None of the above, five editors of college English news publications say.

In a roundtable interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily earlier this month at the paper’s office in Mapo District, western Seoul, chief editors from Seoul National University (SNU), Yonsei University, Hanyang University, Ewha Womans University and Sogang University sat down to discuss what it means for a university to go global and how the presence of international students are changing their schools.

Kim Che-yeon, a senior at SNU majoring in Russian language and literature, spoke on behalf of The SNU Quill. Lee Na-eun, a junior at Yonsei University’s Underwood International College, represented The Yonsei Annals.

Son Hyeon-yu, a senior at Hanyang University’s Division of International Studies, spoke for The Hanyang Journal; Rhee Jane, a junior at Ewha Womans University majoring in computer science and engineering, for the Ewha Voice; and Woo Ji-won, a senior studying communication at Sogang University, for The Sogang Herald.

The following are excerpts from the interview, edited and condensed for clarity.

Are you noticing an increasing number of international students on campus?

Kim (SNU): We had many foreigners who applied for our magazine this semester, presumably after reading our English-language notice. We’re now working with students from the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Lee (Yonsei): We have about four to five foreigners at our magazine, too. About half the students in my classes are foreigners, so I think Korean students have many opportunities to come in contact with international students.

What are some pros and cons of studying with international students?

Rhee (Ewha): I don’t have many international students in my classes, but based on what I hear from interviews with them, they often say they feel left out. In team projects, for instance, communication between Korean students seems to be a big issue.

Son (Hanyang): One huge positive side of studying with international students is having access to a variety of thoughts. During debate class, I can hear all sorts of opinions from students from Europe, Africa, China, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines and so on. It’s really interesting how they each have different perspectives. Another good thing is that international students don’t seem to care what others think about their opinions. Even when they’re wrong, they raise their hands and speak with confidence, which I find astonishing to this day. I think that had a positive effect on me because, nowadays, if I’m curious about something, I just ask [the professor] during class like foreigners do. On the other hand, I think students who can’t speak English fluently feel a language barrier. Even some international students feel a language barrier when they’re conversing in English because not all of them are from countries whose first language is English. There’s also the case of cultural barriers when Korean students and international students have to work together on team projects.

Kim (SNU): I think it’s great that we can experience diverse cultures on our campus. We have an association of international students at our school that periodically hosts events introducing foreign languages, cultures and food, and I think such programs help enrich school life.

The presidents of universities I’ve met throughout our ongoing series “Meet the President” often say that their schools provide many programs for international students to help them settle. The one-on-one mentoring program in which a Korean student is paired with an international student seems to be a favorite. But what I personally witnessed in college, it never seemed very effective. Can anyone weigh in?

Woo (Sogang): We have a one-on-one mentoring program at our school, too, but there are no rules as to how often the students have to meet with their mentors each week. If they’re too busy or they can’t agree on a schedule, they can get away with not meeting at all, so I don’t think it’s that helpful.

Rhee (Ewha): We have a mentoring program at our university, as well, which is really popular among Korean students because the mentors are offered scholarships. However, some international students I’ve interviewed said they never met their mentors in person. Likewise, there aren’t any rules as to how many times or hours they have to meet, so there’s no telling how many pairs actually communicate as actively as they’re supposed to.

How do you think your schools are handling other issues related to the settlement of international students?

Lee (Yonsei): Many international students come from countries with different academic calendars, which means that in their countries, schools start in autumn. So by the time they arrive at our school in autumn, they’re forced to follow the Korean academic calendar [which starts in March]. Hence, for mandatory courses that offer introductory-level classes in the first spring semester and advanced-level classes in the second autumn semester, these international students have to study in reverse. They study the advanced level first and then take the introductory level the following semester, which makes it difficult for them to catch up. One other thing I’d like to point out is that we haven’t had a student council since 2018 because the turnout was under 50 percent. I think one issue here is that even though there are so many eligible voters among our international students, none of the candidates translate their pledges into English. There’s a huge PR opportunity being lost here, which our magazine has covered. Our school has a lot of international students, but system-wise, we’re not quite there yet.

Rhee (Ewha): I think every international student has a clear reason why they came to Korea. Students that I interviewed said they came because of K-pop, to learn the Korean language or simply because they wanted to know more about the country. But in reality, we see polarized college campuses. Korean students only mingle with fellow Koreans. There’s a twisted conception of globalization and I think schools can do more to help the newcomers. Globalization isn’t about providing more English-language courses. It’s about bridging gaps between Korean and international students.

Is there anything that Korean or international students can do to overcome these problems?

Son (Hanyang): In the four years I’ve attended school, I’ve never seen international students gather to issue a joint statement. They seem to have a lot of complaints when I talk to them individually, but it’s sad that they don’t take the initiative to speak up. If they want to make change, perhaps they could ask Korean students for help in drafting a statement.

Woo (Sogang): I understand that it can be difficult to speak out if you’re a foreigner studying at a Korean university. I think the school has to step up and create a platform enabling international students to speak out freely, or perhaps organize a town hall meeting between the university president and international students, without Korean students.

As chief editor of your school’s English press, what’s your main focus in reporting?

Rhee (Ewha): We try to reflect as many views as possible in our publication. The concept of diversity can seem really broad and grandiose, but I think it comes down to how people see small things differently. For instance, in 2020, we wrote an article about some difficulties international students face at our school, mainly how our English website isn’t updated as often as the Korean website. So if the school fails to upload a translated version of the original Korean-language notice, that means international students miss out on a lot of important information. For Korean students, it may not seem like a big deal. But for international students, it’s terrifying.

Woo (Sogang): We focus more on Korean culture and trends. The most important aspect for us is timeliness. When there’s an issue in Korean society about, say, the Dokdo islets, we write an article explaining the history behind it. We also take Korean issues and compare them with those of foreign countries to see how they’re handled elsewhere. It’s sort of a shame that neither the Korean students nor international students are fans of our magazine, though.

How many readers do you normally have?

Woo (Sogang): We print 300 copies and place them on stands all over our campus, but they never seem to shrink (laughs).

Kim (SNU): We don’t see much difference either when we revisit our distribution sites months later. From this semester, we’re trying to reach out to more readers through online channels, such as through our website and Instagram account.

Rhee (Ewha): We’re definitely seeing more readers than last year and the year before, when most of our classes were held online and there weren’t any students on campus to pick up copies. I think high school students who visit our campus like taking copies with them. We print 200.

Son (Hanyang): We print 1,000 copies for the Seoul Campus and 500 copies for the ERICA Campus [in Ansan, Gyeonggi] four times a year. When classes were held virtually, the copies didn’t seem to shrink, but now that classes are held in-person, all our stands have gone empty, so I think students are reading our paper. I once received a really long message from a foreigner on Instagram complaining that we’re polluting the environment by printing too many copies. I was shocked. So we’re thinking about reducing our print copies by half.

In our “Meet the President” series, university presidents discuss their globalization strategies. What’s your definition of a globalized university from a student’s perspective?

Kim (SNU): I don’t think globalization is simply about inviting more international students to the campus. It’s more about respecting different values and coexistence. I recently had a chance to translate an interview with our president, who cited the Metaverse and R&D [research and development] as ways of globalization. But in my opinion, I think a better example of globalization would be an exhibition I once saw at our school library about the coronavirus and the rise of Chinese and Asian hate crimes. Globalization is about understanding one another without prejudice and coexisting with people of various racial backgrounds.

Lee (Yonsei): When we think globalization, we think blond-haired foreigners. But the truth is, most international students are Chinese and Asians. The problem is that there’s this prevalent sense of animosity toward Chinese people on campus. I think we need to periodically hold some sort of a seminar to openly discuss our biases about Chinese and Southeast Asian students.

Woo (Sogang): There’s a course in our school [which name roughly translates as] Understanding Southeast Asia Through Cinema. Students basically watch Southeast Asian movies and learn about the culture. An interesting thing is that there are international students from Southeast Asia enrolled in the class, so when they have to do team projects with Korean students, they’re the ones helping the Koreans and leading them. I think the course has somewhat changed our perception about international students “free-riding” in group work. It would be nice to see more courses like this.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]