Antonio J. Domenech (University of Malaga)

University of Malaga (UMA) is located in the city of Malaga in the region of Andalusia, south of Spain. The university counts nowadays with a full BA degree on Korean Studies, and a Korean office devoted to cultural and human exchanges between Spain and Korea, working from an integral perspective.

Korea is nowadays a very influential country that cannot be ignored in order to understand the reality of the world in general, and East Asia in particular. In that regard, it is important to understand the Korean reality from a broad perspective, in order to apprehend the impact of the country in the region, and the international scene. Obviously, such understanding must be rooted in a comprehensive study of Korean culture, taking in consideration its long cultural tradition, the historical development of the country, and its ability to receive and reinterpret foreign traditions. For that reason, the University of Malaga has worked since 2005 to promote the understanding of Korea in Spain, as well as it has been a strong advocate and supporter of exchanges between both countries. With that in mind, the University of Malaga has developed since 2010 an integral project of internationalization that has focused on Korea, teaming up with other local agents, to provoke a comprehensive change in Spain towards Korea. This project led by the university and partnering up with the Incheon National University and other sister universities in Korea aims to promote academic, institutional and economic exchanges with Korean universities, institutions and companies in order to construct a fluid channel of communication, exchange and creation between both countries.

One of the most important projects that the University of Malaga has developed to further the internationalization of Malaga with Korea has been the creation of a BA degree on Korean Studies, and departmental area on Korean Studies. The creation of these two structures, highly interwoven, are the institutional answer of the university, as higher education institution, in relation to the internationalization with Korea. The BA degree, inaugurated in 2011, aims to train professionals able to bridge the Spanish-speaking world and Korea. In order to do so, these professional are not proficient just in Korean language, but develop as well a set of skills in terms of cultural knowledge about Korea that will facilitate their future job as intermediaries between both cultural regions. The degree is organized from a multidisciplinary perspective teaching courses on different issues such as history, arts, literature, philosophy, religion, economy, business and trade, intercultural communication and Korean language. The degree counts nowadays with more than 200 students enrolled in the four-year long program. This mass of students is creating as well a demand in terms of postgraduate education (MA, PhD level), scholarship about Korea in Spanish.

Moreover, the University of Malaga has launched several Exchange programs and partnerships to support and further the connections with Korea at all levels. The first of those parallel projects is the student exchange program. As a result, the University of Malaga has exchanged about 200 students since 2010 with 15 partner Universities from South Korea.

The communication and collaboration between the University of Malaga and Korea is greatly facilitated and channeled through the Office “International Bridge with Korea”, securing their development through specific projects. In order to carry out the mission of connecting both countries, the Office employees a qualified Korean-Spanish speaking team in charge of managing projects according to the necessities of the Korean Studies. Some of those projects have attended to the development and support of joint research seminars and projects; exchanges of professors and students, attending specially to their reception at Malaga; or the organization of parallel activities related to the education of students such the celebration of the TOPIK exam or linguistic exchanges between Korean and Spanish students, Korean Cultural Week, Spain-Korea Forum.

Furthermore, the Office “International Bridge with Korea” has also consolidated a closed relationship with Latin American institutions interested in developing Korean Studies projects. The University of Malaga organized through the Office “International Bridge with Korea” the 1st and 2nd Ibero-American meeting on Korean Studies with the objective of assessing the status of the Korean Studies in the Iberoamerican region, and establishing the bases for future development. Around 80 participants from 8 different countries took part in the event, creating the “Ibero-American Network of Korean Studies”.

In order to consolidate this Network among universities and regions, the University of Malaga needs to upgrade the structures already in place. On the one hand, it is necessary to develop further the education of the students interested in Korea, so they can become the kind of professionals able to bridge efficiently these regions, America, Korea and Spain. On the other hand, it is necessary as well to develop a solid research project at the University of Malaga that holds together the program in Spain, but also that connects with our colleges in Latin America.

For all the reasons presented, we felt the need to bring Korean Studies in Malaga and Spain to the next academic level. And fruit of that need was born our present seed project, “Building the Future: Korean Studies Postgraduate Program and Research Development at the University of Malaga” with the objectives of developing Korean Studies at a postgraduate level and the creation of a solid Spanish-Latin American research group focus in Korean Studies.

The first year of our Seed Program project has served as a first contact regarding the planning of the research, its objectives, and the methodological and practical concerns to carry out it. Therefore, most of the activities have been organized, on the one hand, with the aim of starting the postgraduate program in Korean Studies at the University of Malaga. Thus, several members of the research group have focused their activities on creating new contacts, links and disseminating the role and program of the University of Malaga in Korean Studies to improve our presence in Latin America.

On the other hand, the project has focused on making the first tentative approaches to the research in academic exchanges between the University of Malaga and Korean Universities. Some of the main tasks developed at this point have been the search for bibliography, first interviews with students of the University of Malaga and Incheon National University and with visiting professors, collecting and analyzing data. Currently researchers are working on the first interpretations of the interviews. Finally, academic and cultural activities were organized to spread knowledge about Korea in the University of Malaga, the city of Malaga and Spain.
 
This first year has been the moment to establish the foundations for the development of the project in the coming years. The configuration of the research instruments and their testing with a pilot research, the construction of a wide network of partners and the promotion of Korean culture in Spain will help the fulfillment of all the objectives set in the project.