Description

Media City Seoul: Syncretic Society, Art and Culture

The Global Education Office and the Kinetic Imaging Department, in conjunction with the Korean National University of Arts (K'ARTS), are pleased to offer a unique opportunity for students to explore arts and culture in Seoul, Korea. Students will investigate the unique and vibrant city of Seoul and examine Korea across the spectrum from the traditional to the contemporary. Korean guest lecturers will be invited from diverse fields and final projects will be exhibited at K' ARTS gallery in the open format of text, visual or sound.

Course and Credit Options: 3 VCU Credits
* KINE 491
* KINE 591
* ARTS 370

Course Description:
This program will expose students to alternative modes of living and thinking, putting them into the experiential and service learning processes in Seoul, Korea. Students and faculty will investigate the unique and vibrant city of Seoul through group excursions. Faculty will help students examine their identities through mission projects, pursued in a truly global context. Students will be given a task and are expected to investigate Korean culture sites (contemporary and traditional) as site-specific explorers, simple yet inspirational. The assignments will motivate students to deeply investigate culture by directly interacting with local communities. Students will document their exploration using various media such as drawing, writing, photos, videos, and sound. Students will make various forms of creative projects based on their performative engagement with the real breath of Seoul. In addition, students will have the opportunity to introduce English and their own culture to the local community; this service-learning project will allow students to explore different perceptions of language and culture. For further inspiration, the course will invite 5 Korean experts as guest lecturers to discuss the Korean perspective of body, sensation, movement, media art and technology. K'ARTS students will join the group, creating cultural exchange through dialogue and projects. Students will exhibit their final projects in the K'ARTS gallery located in Insadong art district of Seoul.

K'ARTS will provide studio space and accommodation on their campus where the school of visual arts, film, theatre and traditional arts are located. It is an inspirational place with dynamic cultural productions, critical dialogues and international exchanges.

Seoul is well known for its 600-year role as the capital of Korea, as well as for being a relentlessly modern city of innovative technology. Despite advanced technology, Korea uniquely maintains a vibrant shamanic culture into the 21st century, embedded in every aspects of daily life, creating an exciting culture of hybrid and syncretism. Seoul is an outstanding location for studying dynamic media arts and culture. The world-famous Korean-born media artist Nam June Paik founded the form of video art, informed by Korean shamanism. The Nam June Paik Art Center is the first museum dedicated to Paik which has invaluable resources for students interested in media arts. Seoul has many museums, galleries, and theaters, as well as historic sites and monuments, providing a historical perspective into Korea's dynastic periods. Seoul also offers modern youth culture of Asia, filled with the latest mobile technologies, fashion, games, "K-pop" music and more.

Highlights

While in Korea

Participants will visit historic and cultural sites, to include:
* Nam-dae-mun Market: large traditional market
* Nam-san Tower: observation tower located on Namsan Mountain, central Seoul
* Nam-june Paik Art Center: The hub of International Media Art Revolution
* Korean Folk Village and Museum
* DMZ: The Korean Demilitarized Zone -a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea
* Hwa Gye Sa International Zen Center : a deep experience in Korean traditional Zen and monastic life
* Bi Won: Secret Garden in the Last Royal Palace
* Insa-dong art district: the focal point of Korean traditional culture and crafts
* Kyung-Bok palace: the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty

Housing:
Students will be housed on the Korean National University of Arts (K'ARTS) campus. Meals are not included but can be purchased at an affordable rate. The K'ARTS student restaurant offers lunch for USD2.30.

The program will be led by Semi Ryu. Ms Ryu is a media artist and an associate professor in the Kinetic Imaging Department at VCU. She's a native of Korea and lived in Seoul for more than ten years. Ms. Ryu earned her BFA in Multimedia from K'Arts. She recently wrote a book "Point of Being" with Derrick de Kerkhove, the formal director of McLuhan program and the author of "Skin of Culture". Her chapter "Sensing without Sensing" deeply explored Korean experiential reality and emotional psyche in the context of paradox and ritual. Her animations, virtual puppetry and writings have been exhibited and published internationally.

Erin Zerbe will be the program assistant. She is a multimedia artist working in video, animation, performance and photography. Her work as a time based artist focuses on human interactions and social relationships with sexuality, the body, and technology. Currently, Erin is teaching at Virginia Commonwealth University. She's teaching classes in the Art Foundations and Kinetic Imaging Departments, including Media Theory, Web for Media Artists, Animation, and Time Studio.

Degree Level

Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Subject Areas

• Art/fine Arts
• Arts
• Graphic Design

Cost in US$:

Approx. USD1,200 + airfare + VCU tuition

Program Fees Include:

The program fee is approximately USD1,100 - USD1,300 and includes the following:
* Accommodations
* Study visits and tours
* Excursions
* On-site translation and program support
* Application fee and deposit
* Pre-departure orientation
* VCU administrative fees
* International Student Identity Card

The following are not included in the program fee. Students are responsible for:
* Airfare (including any baggage fees)
* VCU tuition and fees
* Meals
* Passport application fee
* Personal expenses during the program (estimated at USD500)
* Anything not specifically mentioned above

Please buget for these additional expenses.

Airfare is not included. Participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements from the U.S. to Seoul, Korea and from Seoul, Korea to the U.S. Ms. Semi Ryu will assist participants in identifying low-cost options and a preferred itinerary.

Experience Required

yes

The program is open to all VCU students and non-VCU students with one year of college experience. Students must have a 2.0 GPA or higher.

This Program is open to

Worldwide Participants.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Dormitory

Participants Travel

Independently

Typically Participants Work

in Groups of 10-15

Application Process Involves

• Essay
• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Written Application

Typically The Application Process Time is

2-4 weeks

Post Services Include

• Exit Debriefing Abroad

Year Founded

1838