August 14 was the last day of our academic libraries class at Yonsei University, which is a course offered by Simmons College and co-taught by Professor Claudia Morner and Professor Ji-Hong Park. The class covers the functions and challenges of academic libraries in the United States and Korea and includes eight Simmons students and seven Yonsei students.
Our classroom building at Yonsei.
Having a mixed class of Korean and American students has added a certain depth that comes from a mingling of many perspectives. Many of the Yonsei students majored in library science as undergrads and have limited practical experience. They also come from a culture where libraries have experienced great expansion and technological growth in the past half-century. Our class discussions and group work ? including a group planning project for an academic library ? benefited from the collaboration of the two cultures. We?ve discussed the similarities and differences between libraries in the two countries and learned a great deal in the process.
Beyond academics, the Yonsei students have taught us much about Korean culture and fielded our questions about food, shopping, traditions and etiquettes. One student directed me to a traditional tea house called Dawoonsami near the university. Another explained during a two-day monsoon that Koreans traditionally cook kimchi, seafood, or scallion pancakes on rainy days as a quick and easy dinner. Another student joked about how her mother has four refrigerators in her apartment ? three for the sole purpose of making kimchi.? One night some of the students treated us to a night of karaoke in an artsy area of Seoul near Hongik University. We spent the evening singing to American and Korean songs and got to see a side of the students that usually isn?t expressed in the classroom environment.
The August 2009 Academics Libraries Class
Our stay at Yonsei University began and ending with a group dinner involving the students, professors, and dean. This was a great way to get to know one another in an informal setting and discuss what we planned to learn in the beginning and what we had discovered in the end. On Friday night we all said our goodbyes, but it was far from a final farewell. Two Yonsei students will be attending Simmons this year. They’ve treated us to a few nights of pork and kimchi, and we’ve already planned a night out at Boston Beerworks in September.