Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea
The Lynch School of Education and Human Development has agreed in principle to establish a dual degree master's program with South Korea's Yonsei University College of Educational Sciences.
The agreement was announced by Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., dean of the Lynch School, and Yonsei University College of Educational Sciences Dean Lee Myung-geun. Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley and Lee signed the five-year renewable agreement at Boston College in June.
The memorandum of understanding is the Lynch School’s third with a South Korean university—and fourth overall with a foreign university—during the last 16 months, reflecting BC's commitment to developing programs that promote global cooperation, as articulated in the University’s 2017 strategic plan. Other MoUs have been signed with the Seoul National University of Education, South Korea's foremost school of education for future public elementary school teachers, to develop collaborative academic cooperation activities; Mary Immaculate College, a top-ranked Irish college of education and liberal arts, to co-develop academic and student/faculty exchange programs; and the College of Education at Seoul National University, South Korea's preeminent research institution, for faculty exchange and research collaboration.
"We are very pleased to partner with Yonsei University on a joint degree program, as well as potential research collaborations," said Wortham. "As one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea, Yonsei is a great partner with whom to launch our dual degree. Their faculty edit important journals and conduct work that is internationally recognized. We would love to have some of their excellent students come to BC, and our students will benefit from the opportunity to study there."
Each institution can annually send as many as two master's degree student candidates to the respective partner school for one year of study in the dual degree master's program. Professor Ana M. Martinez Aleman, the Lynch School's associate dean for faculty and academic affairs, will oversee and coordinate the collaboration on behalf of Boston College.
Yonsei University, established in 1885, is a private research university, and one of South Korea's three "SKY" (Seoul National, Korea, and Yonsei) universities, considered the country's most prestigious institutions. Yonsei, with more than 4,500 faculty members, offers graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs in Korean and English to nearly 27,000 undergraduates, and 12,000 graduate students. The urban university was ranked 105th overall in 2016 by QS World University Rankings, and 104th worldwide by the Center for World University Rankings in 2017.
The name "Yonsei" is derived from the respective first syllables of the names of its two parent institutions, Yonhi College and Severance Union Medical College, both Christian institutions, which merged in 1957; the latter has its roots in Korea's first modern medical center.
Among other things in common, Yonsei and BC share a mascot: the eagle.
Phil Gloudemans | University Communications | July 2019
Phil Gloudemans | University Communications