Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
한국외국어대학교[1]
Motto Veritas, Pax, Creatio
Truth, peace, creation
Established 1954
Type Private
President Prof. KIM, In-Chul Ph.D.
Academic staff
 613
Students 27,351
Undergraduates 23,661
Postgraduates 3,690
Location Seoul, South Korea
Campus Urban; rural
Website http://www.hufs.ac.kr/user/hufsenglish/index.html
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Hangul 한국외국어대학교
Hanja 韓國外國語大學校
Revised Romanization Hanguk Oegugeo Daehakgyo
McCune–Reischauer Han'guk Oegugŏ Taehakkyo

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) is a private research university based in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Hankuk is a romanization of the Korean word 한국, which means Korea. Dr. Heung-bae Kim founded the university in 1954 to promote the foreign language education in post-war Korea. The university is composed of two campuses, the Seoul Campus located in the eastern region of Seoul, and its suburban campus in Yongin (용인).[2]

The university is widely considered as one of the best private higher educations in South Korea, especially on foreign language and social science. In 2007, HUFS won third place of Korean universities on the National Customer Satisfaction Index, and was placed second in terms of internationalization two years in a row in the university rankings of JoongAng Ilbo. The evaluation also ranked HUFS second in Korea for its research, faculty, reputation and alumni representation among schools without a medical school in 2008. HUFS was ranked as the best Korean university on the subject of globalization in the QS World University Rankings (Quacquarelli Symonds) in 2010.

Many diplomats and ambassadors have graduated from HUFS. It has a graduate school of Interpretation and Translation.

In 2012, U.S President Obama, during his visit to Korea, spoke at Hankuk University in Seoul about global progress toward nuclear non-proliferation.[3]

Seoul Campus

History

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies was founded as a college for studying foreign languages in April 1954 with its first students studying English, French, Chinese, German, Spanish and Russian. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the college expanded its programmes and became a university in 1980. In 1981, it opened its second campus in Yongin, a satellite city of Seoul. The second campus teaches additional languages not provided in the first, namely Polish, Romanian, Czech, Slovakian, Serbian, Croatian, Russian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Central Asian Languages (Kazakh and Uzbek) etc. as well as most subjects on offer at the Seoul campus.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has over 50 departments covering Social Sciences, Eastern European Studies, Humanities, Asia-African Studies, and Natural Sciences. The university contributes to regional studies, with graduate courses in international and regional studies.

Since 2004 the closely associated Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, based at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, has been offering online courses in English, Japanese and Chinese, as well as Business Administration and Journalism and Mass Communication.

HUFS runs a foreign language examination system (FLEX). The FLEX Center is developing examinations for 19 languages in addition to the seven languages currently administered (English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese). It plans for 26 languages more.[4]

As of October 2014, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has academic exchange program agreements with 431 universities and 139 institutions throughout 88 nations.[5]

Campus location

Global Campus

107 Imun-ro(st), Dongdaemun-Gu, Seoul, Korea.

81 Oedae-ro(st), Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea.

Auxiliary educational organizations

The foreign language training institute was established in 1974 with support from the government and the Korea International Trade Association to provide language training to public officials and staff of companies who do business abroad.

The agency specializes in interpretation and translation studies.

The Center for Korean Language and Culture is an educational institute that provides Korean language education to help people from around the world to achieve a good command of Korean and a correct understanding of Korean culture while also nurturing Korean language teachers.

A school-based business, i-HUFS Enterprise was founded in November 2003 to apply the knowledge and information about languages and culture that HUFS retains for the education of students and for study by professors toward research to develop educational programs that can generate profit.

The Global Leadership Academy opened in 2001 to produce area experts based on education in 45 major languages used worldwide and the area studies programs available at HUFS.

Established in 1954 together with the university, the University Press Center has published 39 foreign language dictionaries including Korea’s first Russian-Korean dictionary in 1963 and a ‘Practical Malay∙Indonesian-Korean dictionary’ in 2008.

The center was established to manage and operate FLEX(Foreign Language Examination). FLEX was developed by HUFS and is jointly administered with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Tests are administered in seven languages: English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese.

In response to the rising demand for English teachers equipped with language and teaching knowledge, the HUFS TESOL(Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Professional Education Center was established as an independent education institution. The center offers all instruction required of English education professionals including teaching methods and application of theory to the field, as well as the evaluation, review, and production of learning materials in addition to English language training.

The Seoul Institute for Continuing Education was established in August 2010 to realize the philosophy of continuing education. It serves local communities by granting public access to HUFS teaching faculty and educational infrastructure.

Colleges

Seoul Campus

Global Campus

Polish President Bronisław Komorowski given a lecture at Hankuk University, October 2013.

Features of the education courses

International exchange programs

HUFS is implementing the '3-3-3-3 strategy' to cultivate future leaders. HUFS intends to increase the proportion of international faculty, lectures in foreign languages, international students, and Korean students studying abroad for at least one semester to over 30 percent.

Students study at an overseas university for at least one out of the eight semesters of their undergraduate years to gain a more international focus. HUFS provides support under the following three categories: 7+1 free-competition dispatch students(British-American zone), 7+1 dispatch students selected by departments and 7+1 dispatch students with superior entrance exam scores.

Under the dual degree program, students receive a degree from HUFS and another degree from the University of Delaware, pursuant to an agreement between the two universities.

Under the student exchange program, HUFS and a sister university overseas sign an agreement allowing for students from either institution to complete and receive academic credit for coursework taken on each other's campuses.

Language studies at an overseas four-year university can earn students up to nine credits at HUFS. The program allows students to strengthen their language capabilities as well as become more internationally minded.

The Self-financed Study Abroad Program is a plan in which HUFS students may study in overseas universities and get the credits exchanged into the HUFS system. Since the student can choose any university (4-year colleges only) that the dean approves, there are more options compared to those on the Exchange or Visiting Student Program.

FLEX (Foreign Language EXamination)

Under the foreign language certification system, students who have double majors are required to achieve certain scores on the FLEX test for graduation, apart from graduation certification. In principle, students need to receive certification on their proficiency in foreign language. Many kinds of languages in FLEX: English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Indian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Polish, Italian, Dutch and so on.

Partner universities

There are 411 partner institutions in 93 nations.

Asia

Africa

Oceania

Europe

South America

North America

Middle East

HUFS alumni

Alumni who honored HUFS

2009 Distinguished Alumni Award

Dept. of German, Entering Class of '58

Dept. of Spanish, Entering Class of '64

Dept. of Arabic, Entering Class of '76

2010 Distinguished Alumni Award

Dept. of Korean Education, Entering Class of '84. She became a KBS announcer in 1990 through open recruitment.

Dept. of Russia, Entering Class of '69. He entered the firm of newspaper(Dong-a daily news) in 1976, and became vice-president of Dong-a daily news.

College of Law, honorary alumnus. She has made over all her property to the school. Her subscriptions amount to 4.5 billions.

Transportation

Seoul Campus

By Subway, and bus,

Global Campus

By bus

HUFS Global campus shuttlebus

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.
  1. ↑ Abbreviations of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korean: (한국) 외대((韓國) 外大; Hanguk Oedae). In English: HUFS
  2. ↑ The third Campus is being established in Songdo International Business District.
  3. ↑ President Obama Speaks at Hankuk University.
  4. ↑ FLEX, http://builder.hufs.ac.kr/user/hufsenglish/ac_5.jsp
  5. ↑ exchange program agreements, http://www.hufs.ac.kr/user/hufsenglish/index.html, viewed 05/08/2008

Coordinates: 37°35′50″N 127°03′31″E / 37.597215°N 127.058537°E