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.

October 6-15, 2006

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. This year's fall fellows were education specialists from across the sector and across America. They included five textbook editors, two academics, an editorial consultant, a marketing manager and an educational outreach coordinator for a major museum. Beginning in Seoul, the group traveled throughout South Korea, learning (through a hands-on approach) about Korean history and culture, and how both are relevant to their work. The participants arrived at Incheon International Airport on October 6 and spent the afternoon at their hotel with Mark Peterson briefing them on what to expect from their trip. A late afternoon visit to the National Museum was followed by the fellows' first encounter with authentic Korean food at dinner. Fellows spent the first few days of the study tour at the Academy of Korean Studies, attending lectures on Korea's geography and Korean art. Interspersed with the lectures were field trips to Leeum Museum, Kyongbok Palace and King Sejong's tomb in Yoju. The study tour departed Seoul on October 9. Traveling south to Suwon, the fellows visited Samsung Electronics History Hall and spent the night at the Samsung Human Resources Center.  Over the following days, the tour visited the Early Printing Museum in Chongju, the Unmunsa Buddhist nunnery near Taegu and the Haien Buddhist monastery, where the group joined Korean worshippers in a religious ritual and visited the repository of the Tripitaka Koreana. Before arriving back in Seoul on October 14, the fellows also visited Sokkuram, Pulkuk Sa and Yangdong Village.

April 14-23, 2006

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-six K-12 teachers, one professional storyteller/writer, one administrator from a state department of education, one professor and one university dean-and across the country. This diverse group traversed Korea from the northwest to the southeastern coast, visiting five major cities: Seoul, Suwon, Ch'ongju, Kyongju and Pohang. The program began in Seoul with lectures on Korean politics, economics, art and the Silk Road interspersed with guided tours of Leeum Museum and Kyongbok Palace. The tour continued with the group traveling south, making a stopover at the Samsung Electronics History Hall in Suwon as well as at Hwasong Fortress, a U.N. World Heritage Site in Kyonggi province from the Choson Dynasty. An overnight stay was arranged by Samsung at its Human Resources Center in Yongin. The next day, the tour continued with a visit to the Early Printing Museum in Ch'ongju, where the first moveable type, invented in Korea in 1377, was on display. Next, participants visited the Haien Buddhist Monastery where the group joined Korean worshippers in a religious ritual and visited the repository of the Tripitaka Koreana before traveling to Kyongju, the historic city of Silla's golden age, for the night. The group visited the National Museum of Kyongju, as well as several historical and cultural sites, in order to learn about the development of Korea's Buddhist heritage during the period of Silla state formation. Afterwards, the group visited the nearby Yangdong traditional village for a two-hour, informal discussion with Jirak Lee, the clan elder. This discussion provided a unique opportunity to understand how Confucianism continues to influence rural Korean communities. Before returning to Seoul, the group toured the Pohang Steel Mill. The group returned to the United States, from Seoul, on April 23.