Colorado Springs, Colo. The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and South Korea’s Yeungjin College will create a $40 million American culture immersion program near Daegu, Korea.
In what is believed to be the first partnership between a U.S. university and a Korean university, educators will create a model U.S. city with details ranging from a post office to retail outlets selling American products. The village will provide Korean citizens the opportunity to experience American culture and enroll in English language programs designed for school children or working professionals interested in global commerce.
Twenty-one instructors, recruited by UCCS from across the United States, will arrive in Daegu in Aug. 2007 to begin living and teaching in the village. The village will be open to the public on weekends. Students will include all municipal employees of the City of Daegu who are required to study English.
“The idea is to transport the language, the culture, the look and feel of America to the Daegu mountain village,” La Vonne I. Neal, dean, UCCS College of Education, said. “UCCS successfully competed with universities across the United States, Canada, and Australia to co-develop the English curriculum, teach English as a second language and to co-manage this program.”
“The resort-like academic community will offer students an experiential learning environment of foreign cultures. In fact, not a word of Korean will be spoken in the village. This is a unique and visionary arrangement for both UCCS and the South Korean people,” Carole de Casal, associate dean, UCCS College of Education, said.
Previous Korean English-only villages were operated by the South Korean government.
With more than 2.5 million people, Daegu is the fourth largest city in South Korea. It is the capital of North Gyeongsang province and it also houses three American military bases.
Daegu is recognized as a high-quality education city, with 24 colleges and universities in and around the city. The city government cooperates with colleges and universities to create partnerships between education and industry.
“The city is committed to public education and will raise awareness of globalization among its largely rural and lower income citizenry,” Tim Park, Yeungjin College Foreign Affairs Administrator, said.
“It is beautifully fitting that as we face so many global challenges, that the South Korean government, Yeungjin College, and UCCS lead the way in building bridges to understanding through language, culture, and education, and most importantly through friendship,” Neal said.
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For more information about UCCS and teaching positions in the Daegu English Village, contact Carol de Casal, associate dean, College of Education, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, (719) 262-3701 or [email protected].
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 26 bachelor’s degrees, 17 master’s and three doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 7,600 students annually. For more information, visit http://www.uccs.edu.