The Hamilton Lugar School’s Institute for Korean Studies, in partnership with George Washington University, invites students to apply for the GW-IU Undergraduate Research Exchange Program, which supports research on Korea.
Students selected to the program receive one-on-one mentoring from faculty in their fields of research, and gain professional connections at Indiana University and George Washington University. They will participate in research workshops during the fall and spring semesters, take part in a mini-conference, and present their papers at the annual GW-IU Korean Studies Undergraduate Research Exchange Conference in the spring semester.
The 2022-23 academic year conference will be held at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Recent International Studies graduate Valerie Grau participated in the program last year. Grau, who minored in East Asian Studies, said the opportunity increased her confidence in her research and presentation skills.
“One of the greatest benefits was making professional connections,” said Grau. “The best part of this opportunity for me was working one-on-one with my research mentor, Dr. Seung-kyung Kim, director of the Institute for Korean Studies. My research focused on the history of women’s rights in South Korea and its effect on women’s rights in the present day. I’m so new with studying women’s rights and Dr. Kim helped me by sharing relevant literature, talking with me, and reviewing my paper. That engagement was great and I really enjoyed it.”
At the end of the research project, Valerie and her classmates presented their research to George Washington University faculty and students.
“I loved it because after I presented my research I got questions from George Washington University faculty, and got their expertise,” continued Grau. “Meeting the other students was fun too – everyone had diverse areas of study. Some people presented on North Korea politics, and others talked about K-pop.”
Grau is now an International Studies graduate student at the Hamilton Lugar School.
The deadline to apply for the GW-IU Undergraduate Research Exchange Program is August 15, 2022.
The Institute for Korean Studies at IU promotes interdisciplinary approaches to the understanding of South and North Korea. Indiana University has a distinguished history in Korean Studies and is one of the oldest programs in the nation. This distinction, along with leading-edge resources and faculty expertise in the field, makes us a hub for Korean Studies in the Midwest.