KF뉴스레터-Jagiellonian University, Poland

Jagiellonian University, Poland

Jagiellonian University (Uniwersytet Jagiellonski in Polish) was established as “Krakow Academy” by Casimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) in 1364. At that time, the University consisted of three faculties: law, medicine, and liberal arts. It is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Central Europe, after only the University of Prague, which was founded in 1348. Situated in Krakow, regarded as the heart of Polish culture, over the past 650 years, Jagiellonian University has been one of the leading universities in Poland, with 6,700 faculty members and 44,000 students, in 104 departments and 15 faculties, as of 2007.

Korean Studies as Area/Regional Studies
In 2001, the establishment of the Institute of Regional Studies served as an occasion to reintroduce Korean Studies at Jagiellonian University. The Institute’s Department of Middle and Far East Studies offered an Asia-related program, as area studies, for the first time in Poland. This represented a highly exceptional case, considering the fact that Asia-related studies had been traditionally taught and researched based on an emphasis on language and literature at most European universities.
To promote area/regional studies based on interdisciplinary studies, the University introduced an educational program of “Asian studies” with a focus on cultural studies rather than the language and literature of various language-speaking regions. Accordingly, language and literature courses were dramatically reduced to selective foreign-language subjects, while a new curriculum, contrary to the standard criteria of those days, was drawn up, with the participation of faculty members with expertise on the sociology, philosophy, economics, and politics of Asia. In addition, in 2004, when the Department of Middle and Far East Studies moved into its new campus, the program, previously operated in conjunction with the Department of International Cultural Studies, became wholly independent, while the curriculum for Far East studies majors and Middle East studies majors were extensively reorganized.
With the foundation being laid for adoption of a new educational program for Far East and Middle East area studies, for the first time in Poland, the late Professor Andrzej Kapiszewski, the first chair of the Department of Middle and Far East Studies, in 2004, applied to the Korea Foundation for its support for the invitation of a visiting professor of Korean Studies. Professor Kapiszewski, former Polish Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, was an expert on Middle Eastern affairs, but maintained special relations with Korea as well. Even prior to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Poland in 1989, he visited Korea as a special envoy and laid the groundwork for the opening of diplomatic relations between the two countries, along with playing a decisive role in the signing of an academic exchange agreement, between Jagiellonian University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 1989, as the first such initiative by a Polish university.
In October 2005, Jagiellonian University offered its first Korean Studies courses, which included “Korean Culture,” “Korean History,” and “Korean Politics and Economy.” Of the three subjects, “Korean Culture,” with a different degree of difficulty, was offered to second-year undergraduates and also to first-year graduate students, while the “Korean History” and “Korean Politics and Economy” courses were open to first- and second-year graduate students, each for one semester. Designated as required subjects for Far East studies majors, each subject involves four hours of weekly instruction, over a 15-week semester.
A notable characteristic of the courses is that the four hours of weekly classroom instruction of each subject included lecture (wykiad) and practice (cwiczenie) sessions, of two hours each. This is a regular practice of Polish university education that applies to major subjects offered by a majority of the departments. “Lecture” involves a one-way dissemination of knowledge from the professor to students, while “practice” includes class interaction, such as questions and answers on lecture topics, reading of reference materials, presentation, discussion, and other forms of activities.

Challenges and Goals
For Poland, Korea is the biggest investment state among the Asian countries as well as Korea's direct investment in Poland is more than that of any other Middle and Eastern European country. Korean tourists to Poland outnumber the visitors from other Asian countries year after year. As for academic and cultural relations, however, Polish awareness of Korea lags far behind their recognition of China and Japan. In Krakow, where Jagiellonian University is located, it is regarded as the country’s center of culture and education by the Polish people. In Krakow, Japan established a Center of Japanese Art and Technology in 1994, and China opened a Confucius Institute in 2006, related to which various programs have been actively implemented by these institutions.
Although the operation of a Far East studies program at Jagiellonian University strives to promote balanced development of Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Southeast Asian studies, in fact, cooperation with the institutions representing Japan and China has been steadily strengthened. If this trend continues, the status of Korean Studies will be comparatively diminished and it may result in a worrisome situation in which the Polish people may develop distorted perceptions of Northeast Asian history, through such endeavors as China's Northeast Asia Project or Japan’s historical distortions.
In my opinion, the existence of Korean Studies, as a field of area studies at Jagiellonian University, is critical because of this situation. Korea has since emerged as a country that cannot be ignored in East Asia, which has previously been represented by China and Japan. Korea has achieved economic development as well as democratization in just one generation, an unprecedented feat in world history, while its popular culture, led by the Korean Wave or Hallyu, has swept throughout all of Asia. There is no reason for Poland, with a similar historical background, not to be more closely attached to Korea, than it is to China or Japan. Therefore, it is very significant to convey accurate images of Korea, which now assumes an important role in East Asia, in Krakow, the heart of Polish culture.
It has been two years since the seed of Korean Studies has been sown at Jagiellonian University. I have done my best to help Korean Studies take root and stimulate interest in Korea. I have made efforts to offer classes, which include distinctive subject areas of the Far East studies program, and to promote extracurricular activities, including Korean movie screenings and special lectures. In addition, in May, the Department successfully hosted a “Korea Day” for the first time in Krakow. However, there is still a long way to go for Korean Studies to firmly establish itself at Jagiellonian University. Korean Studies, as part of a “forest” of Far East studies, has undergone a kind germination phase in recent years, and will now go through a formative period of growth in order to become a healthy young “grove of trees” in the near future.
It will indeed be a challenge to assure that Korean Studies can be firmly implanted at Jagiellonian University, one of Poland’s leading educational institutions, in Krakow, the cultural capital of the Polish people. It is a challenge full of hope for the future of Korea and Poland. By maintaining the interest and passion of Polish student, it will be possible to further develop Korean Studies in Poland.

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Jagiellonian University, Poland

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Jagiellonian University, Poland

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