Forty students from the University of Ulsan are on campus this summer. The University of Ulsan and the city of Ulsan, Korea are Portland State University’s sister university and Portland’s sister city. The students are here from June 30 until July 28.
The Ulsan students are here for a month long English Language and American Culture Program.
According to Katherine Morrow, the program coordinator for the International Special Programs office in the Portland State University School of Extended Studies, the school has coordinated short term English Language and American Culture Programs for students from the University of Ulsan since 1995.
These particular students are a part of the Mechanical and Automotive Engineering Department from the University of Ulsan. This is the second year that the Mechanical and Automotive Engineering Department has participated in this program.
Morrow said this is the first time for a majority of these students to travel to the United States.
The students will receive five Portland State University credit hours that will be counted as English credits at the University of Ulsan. Students at the university are required to take English classes.
The Ulsan students are staying at the Ondine Hall on campus. The students attend classes and go on various excursions around the Northwest.
Some of the students’ plans for the summer include visiting the Oregon Historical Site, the St. Paul Rodeo, going to a Mariners game and white water rafting.
The students are accompanied by three visiting professors. Morrow said the International Special Programs office has student program assistants that are the Ulsan students “first friends” on campus.
According to Morrow the students are really into soccer, it is possible to see them playing soccer around campus. Also, many of the student use the computer labs around campus to do homework and to e-mail back home.
The International Special Programs office has 15 other projects like this going on this summer. Over 400 international students will be on campus throughout the summer. Some of the countries that the students will be representing this summer are Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Germany and students from the former Soviet Union states.
Portland State University also has hosted several visiting faculty from the University of Ulsan.
Earlier this year President Daniel Bernstine visited Ulsan city and the University of Ulsan.
President Bernstine led a Portland State University delegation to South Korea to meet with alumni and sister city and sister university officials.
Accompanying him on the trip were Marvin Kaiser, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Ma-Ji Rhee, foreign languages and international studies faculty; and Gary Withers, vice president for university relations.
In meeting with this sister university as well as others, Bernstine was paving the way to collaborations in English and Korean language, industrial design, environmental studies and public administration.
Portland State University can also anticipate more student exchanges as a result of this recent contact.
While in Ulsan, President Bernstine and his companions met with the mayor and vice mayors at an event that made the front page of the local paper
The University of Ulsan is located in the city of Ulsan, Korea. The city of Ulsan is located 250 miles southeast of Seoul. It is located near Pusan, which is the second largest city in Korea.
The University of Ulsan is a private university that was founded by the Hyundai Company.
The university has approximately 12-13,000 students with round 3,000 students being admitted each year.
The Mechanical and Automotive Engineering Department has approximately 1000 students, with 250 students admitted into its department each year.
Ulsan is an industrial city and the home of the Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Heavy Industries and Ship Building.
If you would like to meet the students or find out more information about the program, contact Morrow at (503) 725-4026.