President Eun Mee Kim Delivers a Special Guest Lecture at Harvard University and Brown University in the United States
- 작성처
- Date2022.04.29
- 8379
President Eun Mee Kim Delivers a Special Guest Lecture at Harvard University and Brown University in the United States
President Eun Mee Kim delivered a special lecture at prestigious universities in the United States including Harvard University and Brown University, and met with the presidents of the universities to exchange opinions on school development and improved exchanges.
President Eun Mee Kim visited the northeastern United States including Boston from April 20 (Wed.) to 28 (Thu.) and met in person with the presidents and key figures of Harvard University, Brown University and Wellesley College to discuss ways to ensure the growth of both universities and strengthen mutual exchanges. In addition, she delivered a special lecture on the theme of “Higher Education in South Korea in the Era of the Digital Transformation and the Pandemic” at Harvard University and another lecture on the theme of “Sustainable Development in the Era of COVID and Digital Transformation” at Brown University.
(left) President Eun Mee Kim of Ewha Womans University, President Lawrence Bacow of Harvard University
First, President Kim had a meeting with President Lawrence Bacow of Harvard University on April 20 (Wed.) and discussed ways to ensure the mutual growth and substantive cooperation between Ewha and Harvard. As Harvard’s sole partner university in Korea for its international exchange program, Ewha has jointly operated the Ewha-Harvard Summer School since 2006 and the Ewha-HCAP (Harvard College in Asia Program) since 2017 with Harvard to promote the excellence of Korean culture and cooperate with Harvard in wide-ranging academic fields including Korean politics, economy, education and culture.
On the next day, April 21 (Thu.), President Kim gave a special lecture on the theme of “Higher Education in South Korea in the Era of the Digital Transformation and the Pandemic” following an invitation from the Korea Institute at Harvard University. In her lecture, she highlighted that universities across the world are being impacted by global megatrends such as digital transformation, hyper-globalization, alternative education platforms such as Minerva University and the COVID-19 pandemic, and commented on how Korean universities will change in the face of another challenge consisting of the decline of the school-age population. As the leader of Ewha Womans University, the largest higher education institution for women possibly in the world, President Kim explained how such trends affected higher education in Korea and stressed that universities must establish innovative education platforms that are optimized for digital environments and provide “student-centered education” in a hyper-connected society.
Next, on April 23 (Sat.), President Kim met with Ewha alumnae living in Boston. The meeting hosted by the Ewha Womans University Alumnae Association of Boston (President: Kim Ji-yeong) was attended by a total of 15 alumnae, who gathered to listen to the president’s vision for Ewha’s future direction and participate in a Q&A session. Upon the president’s visit, the alumnae association held a fundraising event and donated the raised fund to the alma mater for the “Ewha 2030+ Development Fund.”
President Paula Johnson of Wellesley College, President Eun Mee Kim of Ewha Womans University
President Eun Mee Kim then visited Wellesley College and had a meeting with President Paula Johnson. The two presidents of education institutions that share the common goal of women’s higher education in wide-ranging fields sought ways to participate and cooperate in joint research and student exchanges in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), artificial intelligence (AI), medicine, R&D and women’s studies.
(left) President Eun Mee Kim of Ewha Womans University, President Christina Paxson of Brown University
In addition, President Kim visited Brown University and met President Christina Paxson. Brown University is the alma mater of President Eun Mee Kim, where she received master’s and doctoral degrees in Sociology. The two presidents exchanged their opinions on leadership to guide university communities and plans to ensure the further growth of their respective schools. In addition, President Kim was invited as a guest lecturer for the “Chong Wook Lee and Vartan Gregorian Distinguished Lecture Series” and gave a special lecture on the theme of “Sustainable Development in the Era of COVID and Digital Transformation.” The lecture was hosted by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, a think tank that addresses various challenges and issues of the 21st century such as poverty, inequality and natural disasters. It was originally established in 1981 with the mission of realizing justice and world peace and has since become the most prestigious U.S. institute for international and public affairs. In this lecture, President Kim discussed how digital transformation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and COVID-19 have fundamentally influenced our society, and suggested the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and international development cooperation as alternatives in response to issues in developing countries, rising inequality and deterioration of women’s rights.