We try to make “Korea our classroom.” Getting out and learning about Korea is of special value to our international students, including those who come from one of Mason’s US campuses to study with us. Even for our Korean students, there is more to learn, and opportunities for experiences that enrich their classroom learning. The tour of Incheon history and culture, described elsewhere in this issue of the Messenger, is one example of taking advantage of our Korea location.
I recently enjoyed another such opportunity along with a group of Mason Korea students and faculty. We walked along -- and sometimes on -- the old Seoul city wall, first built in 1396. The wall surrounded and protected the city of Seoul. Much of it remains intact today. We walked one-quarter of the wall, from its East Gate to its South Gate.
A tour of the wall provides lessons in Korean history and culture: the spiritual beliefs and geographical know-how that led to its design, the rituals of purification and death of which it was a part, the social and political relations between the king and the people that enabled its building, its destruction by war, and its transformation by urban development. Standing between the ultra-modern Dongdeamun Design Plaza and the ancient Seoul wall, one is reminded of Korea’s long, rich history, and of its rapid modernization.
Mason Korea is focused on building bridges, not walls. Our students and faculty cross continents. In our majors in Business, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Economics, and Global Affairs, and on our international campus, we study and experience the effects of globalization, as our multilingual and multicultural group did on this very excursion.
Seoul too has grown far beyond its ancient city wall and trade is now the lifeblood of Korea. Globalization, however, has not done away with walls and borders. How nations define themselves and behave in the context of globalization is one of the questions to which our students repeatedly return.
Still, if on a beautiful spring day, with the cherry blossoms at peak bloom, our Mason Korea students and faculty enjoyed the view and their time spent together rather than meditating on international relations, I think that’s okay.
Robert Matz
Campus Dean