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.
2006 Spring Fellows:
Valerie Bove
Teacher
St. John's Preparatory School
Astoria, New York
Barbara Flynn
Editorial Director
Nieman, Inc
Wilmette, Illinois
Lara Gonzalez
Social Studies Teacher
Great Neck South High School
Great Neck, New York
Dr. Darrell P. Kruger
Assistant Dean and Coordinator of Illinois Geographic Alliance
Illinois State University
Normal, Illinois
Susan Jeffries
Teacher
Bryant Middle School
Bryant, Arkansas
Dr. Susan Elizabeth Perry
Literary Specialist/Associate Professor
Freeport UFSD/Long Island University CW Post
Freeport, New York
Dan Prinzing
Coordinator: International Education
Idaho State Department of Education
Boise, Idaho
Lisa Pupo
English and Social Studies Teacher
Spring-Ford High School
Royersford, Pennsylvania
Leah Renzi
Social Studies Department Chair
Eastern Technical High School
Baltimore, Maryland
Cathy Spagnoli
Professional Storyteller/Writer
Vashon, Washington