Seventy American educators, led by Yong Jin Choi, senior director of Korean Studies at The Korea Society, participated in the 2010 Summer Fellowship in Korean Studies. The seventy participants consisted of sixty-eight 6th–12th-grade social studies teachers, one political science professor, and one professor of curriculum development. The program required extensive background reading as well as attendance at ten seminars that took place at Korea University. Seminars were taught by Korea’s leading scholars on topics such as history, culture, society, art, education, economics, North-South relations, and language. Morning seminars were supplemented with afternoon field trips into Seoul, including visits to Insadong, the DMZ, the National Museum, and Chŏngdong Theater.

The fellows enjoyed interacting with Korean high school students by teaching at Pugil Academy and Daeil Foreign Language High School. The fellowship included a five-day field trip to the southern part of the Korean peninsula, including visits to Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Electronics, the Ch'ŏngju Early Printing Museum, Oksan Confucian Academy, Yangdong Village, Kyŏngju National Museum, Haeinsa, Pulguksa, and Sŏkkuram. The field trip was led by Dr. Mark Peterson, associate professor of Korean studies at Brigham Young University, who lectured extensively at each site.

"The country is captivating and the more I have learned about Korea the more I have felt compelled to learn even more! As I strove to learn about the history and culture of the Korean people, I was reassured that a genuine interest in someone’s country, a friendly smile, and the desire to understand, goes a very long way. The Korean people didn’t expect me to know how everything works in their country, but I often found myself comforted by the kindness of strangers when I attempted to understand how everything works. Humbleness can be a beautiful bridge to understand other cultures. I am incredibly grateful and humbled to have been given the opportunity to learn about Korea firsthand so that I could learn for myself that Korea is indeed, an impressively vibrant country full of hard-working, strong, determined, prideful people who have a wonderfully rich past and an incredibly bright future."

Group 1: June 23–July 8

Omer K. Alptekin
Arlington High School
LaGrangeville, NY

Tiffany X. Benson
St. Patrick–St. Vincent High School
Vallejo, CA

Eric A. Berge
Valley Catholic High School
Beaverton, OR

Susan J. Blanchette
Hillcrest High School
Dallas, TX

Heather M. Brown
Frank N. Osborne Middle School
Hoschton, GA

Sarah E. Buch
Chaparral High School
Parker, CO

Charlie Bersalona Buenafe
Mililani High School
Mililani, HI

Natalie R. Carter
Saints Neumann & Goretti High School
Philadelphia, PA

Karin N. Cummings
Arcadia High School
Phoenix, AZ

Lucy Danny
Paramus High School
Paramus, NJ

John De Reu
South Fort Myers High School
Fort Myers, FL

Kenneth Emery
Maria Carrillo High School
Santa Rosa, CA

Brian Goodbrake
Lincoln High School
Lincoln, NE

Frankie Gutierrez
Putnam Valley High School
Putnam Valley, NY

Kelli Hamilton
Huntley Middle School
DeKalb, IL

Niomi Henry
Jonesboro High School
Jonesboro, GA

Timothy Hoey
Malden Catholic High School
Malden, MA

Rachel Jevne
Southwest High School
Minneapolis, MN

Elizabeth Tanya Lohr
West Bend West High School
West Bend, WI

Jonathan Mapstone
Guilderland Central High School
Guilderland Center, NY

Gretchen Anglund McNulty
Cape Elizabeth High School
Cape Elizabeth, ME

Michael Pelligrini
Dominion High School
Sterling, VA

Javier Pena
El Sereno Middle School
Los Angeles, CA

Karina Perez
Hackensack Middle School
Hackensack, NJ

Nicholas Priessnitz
Immaculata High School
Somerville, NJ

Kevin Richins
Lynden High School
Lynden, WA

Melony Sanford
Columbia High School
Columbia, SC

Suzanne Schettini
Langley High School
McLean, VA

Justus Serina
Wade Hampton High School
Greenville, SC

Caroline Steer
Detroit Country Day School
Beverly Hills, MI

Susan Tornatore
Carmel High School
Carmel, NY

Vivian Tutterow
Davie County High School
Mocksville, NC

Charles Wise
The Park School of Buffalo
Snyder, NY

Jeffery Woodward
Melrose–Mindoro High School
Melrose, WI

Kimberly Young
Weston High School
Weston, MA


Group 2: July 7–22

Gregory Ammon
North Plainfield High School
North Plainfield, NJ

Davd Arase
Pomona College
Claremont, CA

Jennifer Burns
Langley High School
McLean, VA

Sharon Cohen
Springbrook High School
Silver Spring, MD

Leanne Donelan
Saratoga Springs High School
Saratoga Springs, NY

Erin Esford
Amherst Central High School
Amherst, NY

Jessica Frisik
Charles E. Gorton High School
Yonkers, NY

Elizabeth Hals
Melbourne Central Catholic High School
Melbourne, FL

David Harper
Sparks High School
Sparks, NV

Peter Henty
Towanda Area Junior/Senior High School
Towanda, PA

Melissa Hogan
Benjamin N. Cardozo High School
Bayside, NY

Elaine Holmes
Fort Collins High School
Fort Collins, CO

Jeffrey Lee
High School for the Arts, Imagination & Inquiry
New York, NY

Judi Lee
Mid City Magnet School
Los Angeles, CA

Jed Lezak
Towanda Area School District
Towanda, PA

Noah Lippe-Klein
Susan Miller Dorsey High School
Los Angeles, CA

Brian Lisko
Sierra Vista High School
Las Vegas, NV

Catherine Matysik
Fair Lawn High School
Fair Lawn, NJ

Jamie Paoloni
Olentangy Orange High School
Lewis Center, OH

Sharon Parker
Governor Livingston High School
Berkeley Heights, NJ

Tavia Quaid
Columbia River High School
Vancouver, WA

Mark Quinones
Somerville High School
Somerville, MA

Theresa Rutter
Creekland Middle School
Lawrenceville, GA

Whitney Sholler
Okemos High School
Okemos, MI

Thomas Siembor
James A. Beneway High School
Ontario Center, NY

Greg Sill
Smithtown High School West
Smithtown, NY

Audrey Smith
North Gwinnett Middle School
Sugar Hill, GA

Rebecca Solomon
Los Angeles High School
Los Angeles, CA

Melinda Staubs
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville, AL

Stephanie Sullivan
Naperville North High School
Naperville, IL

Zoraida Velez
Winter Park High School
Winter Park, FL

Neisha Williams
Allatoona High School
Acworth, GA

Joseph Wright, Jr.
Fairfield Ludlowe High School
Fairfield, CT

Jonathan Luke Young
William Cullen Bryant High School
Long Island City, NY