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Korean Studies Education and Cultural Events at Carleton University
Carleton University is located in Ottawa, Canada's capital city. It is the only university in Ottawa to offer Korean language credits. It first offered non-credit Korean class in 2014 and has been offering credit Korean class since 2015. The number of Korean students has grown from 90 in the first year to 315 in the 2022-2023 academic years. In 2020, Korean was adopted as a minor at the demand of students. It is the fourth largest of the 10 languages offered by the Department of Languages, and is currently taught up to the third year by three Korean instructors.
As Carleton is located in the capital city of Ottawa, its students are encouraged to participate in various cultural events offered by the Korean Embassy to Canada and the Korean Cultural Center. The university does not have any East Asian studies department, and Korean is only offered as an elective course in the Language Department, so there have been few Korea-related classes and activities outside of the language class.
As Carleton is located in the capital city of Ottawa, its students are encouraged to participate in various cultural events offered by the Korean Embassy to Canada and the Korean Cultural Center. The university does not have any East Asian studies department, and Korean is only offered as an elective course in the Language Department, so there have been few Korea-related classes and activities outside of the language class.
Carleton University was able to plan various programs besides the language class as it was awarded a grant for educational and cultural events from the Academy of Korean Studies' international support for Korean studies project in 2023. The first event under the grant was the Carleton University Korean Speech Contest held in February 2023. A total of 18 students participated in the contest. Three of the winners went on to compete in the Toronto National Korean Speech Contest in March 2023. One of the three won the first prize in the Intermediate Category for a presentation on the poet Yun Dong-ju. In order to encourage participation by more students, the speech contest was accompanied by a noraebang (karaoke) event, where many students participated and sang Korean songs.
The second program supported by the Academy of Korean Studies was a lecture which invited Professor Michelle Cho of the University of Toronto. Cho gave a lecture titled "K-pop, Race, and Transnational Fandom." About 50 students attended the 50-minute lecture, which was followed by a 30-minute Q&A session.
These events provided an opportunity for students to keep their interest in the Korean language and learn more about Korea through activities outside of the classroom. They also proved a great opportunity to promote Korean food culture to the participants. Although Korean language classes have been offered for almost a decade, the status of Korean language at Carleton University is not yet solid, which is why external support such as the Academy of Korean Studies grant is necessary. The support and role of the Academy of Korean Studies deserves appreciation.
These events provided an opportunity for students to keep their interest in the Korean language and learn more about Korea through activities outside of the classroom. They also proved a great opportunity to promote Korean food culture to the participants. Although Korean language classes have been offered for almost a decade, the status of Korean language at Carleton University is not yet solid, which is why external support such as the Academy of Korean Studies grant is necessary. The support and role of the Academy of Korean Studies deserves appreciation.
