April 1-10, 2007 

This program was implemented in Korea for a group of ten participants accompanied by Yong Jin Choi, senior director of Korean studies at The Korea Society, and Mark Peterson, professor of Korean studies at Brigham Young University. The ten participants consisted of American educators from across the professional spectrum: two K-12 teachers, three administrators from state departments of education, two outreach educators, two professors and one educational consultant. This diverse group embarked on a study tour of Korea, beginning in the northwest and traveling to the southeast coast. The tour visited five major cities: Seoul, Suwon, Ch'ongju, Kyongju and Ulsan.

The program began in Seoul with lectures on Korean politics, economics, and architecture interspersed with guided tours of Leeum Museum and Kyongbok Palace. The program continued with the group traveling south, making a stopover at the Samsung Electronics History Hall in Suwon. The next day, the group visited the Early Printing Museum in Ch'ongju, where the first moveable type, invented in Korea in 1377, was on display. They also visited Wonpoyong Middle School for a tour of its facilities and classrooms, followed by a traditional Korean lunch with students in the cafeteria. The next stops on the tour were the Haein Buddhist Monastery, where the group visited the repository of the Tripitaka Koreana and Kyongju, the capital of Silla during its golden age. In the Kyongju, the group also visited the Yangdong traditional village for a two-hour, informal discussion with Jirak Lee, a clan elder. This discussion provided a unique opportunity for the participants to understand how Confucianism continues to influence rural Korean communities today. The group then visited Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Motors facilities. During the next two days, the group visited the National Museum of Kyongju, as well as several historical and cultural sites, to learn about the history of the Silla kingdom with Jong-Wook Lee, professor of Silla history at Sogang University in Seoul. The Kyongju tour ended with a hike up Namsan Mountain. As the program drew to a close, the group was given a day to explore Seoul on their own before departing for the U.S. on April 10. One of the participants writes: "What a thrill to stand on the hilltop overlooking the Silla territory and listen to Professor Lee's presentation imagining the alliance of chieftains and the foundations of a kingdom. How amazing to sit discussing philosophy in the Yangong Village with the living representative of a Confucian scholarly lineage. How moving to climb to the Buddhist mountain shrines and be guided through the gateways at Haein temple. Mark Peterson's wonderful history, stories, and poetry recitals made even the bus travel fabulous."