MSU students will have the opportunity to study abroad in Korea and tour Japan this May. Thirty undergraduate students and 15 graduate students will accompany Shim on his Korea study tour including a tour of Japan.
An informational meeting will be held Jan. 29 at 5 p.m. in Taylor Auditorium at McCool Hall.
This will be the third year of the Korea study tour but will be the first year a tour of Japan will be included in the trip. The students will spend three days touring Korea, followed by eight days of classes. Next, the students will spend three days touring Japan.
Shim, professor of management information systems, took a group of faculty, administration and alumni to Korea in 2007. While on that trip, Shim said students should also have this opportunity.
“In an increasingly global business environment, students must be aware of other cultures,” Shim said. “Many MSU students are born in Mississippi and live here their whole lives. I want to give them an opportunity to broaden their horizons and give them a global perspective.”
Shim said South Korea is the No. 1 country in telecommunications and is known as Digital Korea. He said AT&T uses South Korean technology as a benchmark for quality in the industry while Japan is also a technological leader.
Students will be selected across all disciplines. Current full-time students who are U.S. citizens are eligible to apply. Students should also have leadership experience and a minimum GPA of 3.1.
Finalists will be announced by Feb. 25. The students will attend participating Korean universities and businesses.
Rob Cochran, a mechanical engineering graduate, traveled to Korea with the study tour in 2007. Cochran said the trip was memorable and that he still keeps in touch with the friends he met on the trip.
“It is one of the most eye-opening experiences ever,” he said. “I was born in Mississippi and had never left the country so it interesting to see how people from such different cultures were still so similar.”
Graduate professor Aaron French was a member of the 2007 and 2008 Korea study tours. He said the different culture in South Korea gave him a greater interest in understanding other ways of living. He also said it helps him as a teacher see things from the perspective of students with different backgrounds.
“It is an amazing experience,” French said. “Anyone who has an opportunity to go, I would highly recommend they take it.”
For an application and itinerary visit www2.msstate.edu/jps1/GLP_2009/.