BU Research Blog

Dr. Jaeyeon Choe recently visited South Korea, and a number of higher education institutions, including Sookmyng Women’s University in Seoul to explore exchange programs for students and staff. The international relations office director and coordinator at Sookmyng, in particular, were extremely positive and supportive of building a partnership with BU! Sookmyng offers various exchange programs including short-term summer courses for international students and invite lecturers from partnership universities every summer. This could, in the future, be a great opportunity for BU lecturers who are interested in international teaching during summer semesters. Sookmyung is also keen on research collaboration as well as students exchange for studying and staff exchange for teaching. According to the international relations office director, Korean students in Seoul are very interested in studying in the UK for at least one semester; they are eager to experience the UK university culture if there is an opportunity. Both parties are currently working on the agreements and contractual issues.

Dr. Jaeyeon Choe is currently involved in a research project with Dr. Yonggu Suh. Dr. Suh is a professor of Marketing at Sookymung and director of the Korean Retail Management Association. The project is a cross-cultural study on Chinese and Korean consumer behavior. Dr. Choe and Dr. Suh have finished collecting data in Seoul, and will start collecting comparison data in Beijing, China in the spring semester.

Dr. Choe, along with the International Office believes there are opportunities to grow links between BU and Sookmyung, where Jaeyeon grew up and studied. She has also communicated with Jeju National University located in beautiful Jeju Island, which offer international tourism degree programs and other more major programs. Stay tuned for updates!