Ewha Womans University

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ewha Womans University
이화여자대학교
Motto: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty
眞 · 善 · 美
Established: May 31, 1886 as Ewha School, college-course installed in 1910, re-established as a university on August 15, 1945.
Type: Private
President: Lee Bae-Yong
Faculty: 856
Staff: 369
Students: 19,503[1]
Undergraduates: 14,904
Postgraduates: 4,559
Location: Seodaemun, Seoul, South Korea
Campus: Urban
587,159  m²
Website: www.ewha.ac.kr
Ewha Womans University
Hangul 이화여자대학교
Hanja 梨花女子大學校
Revised Romanization Ihwa Yeoja Daehakgyo
McCune-Reischauer Ihwa Yŏja Taehakkyo

Ewha Womans University (Korean: 이화여자대학교, Hanja: 梨花女子大學校) is a private women's university in central Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the city's largest institutions of higher learning, the world's largest female educational institute, is one of the best-known universities in South Korea, and the top women's university. Ewha was founded in 1886 by the American Methodist Episcopal missionary Mary F. Scranton.

The school flower is the pear, the Sino-Korean term for which is the school's name. While there may seem to be two grammatical errors in the name, "woman's" was the correct English spelling in the late nineteenth century when the university was founded (as opposed to women's). The absence of the apostrophe is an error which the institution has kept for historical reasons.

Contents

[edit] History

Ewha Womans University traces its roots back to Mary F. Scranton's Ihwa Hakdang (also Ewha Hakdang; 이화학당 梨花學堂) mission school for girls, which opened with only one student on May 31, 1886 (Lee, 2001).[2] The name, which means “Pear blossom academy”, was bestowed by the Emperor Gojong the following year. The school began to provide college courses in 1910, and professional courses for women in 1925. Immediately following liberation of Korea on August 15, 1945, the college received government permission to become a university. It was the first South Korean university to be officially organized.

Ewha is now responsible for many firsts in Korean history: Korea's first female doctor, Esther Park; its first woman to get a doctoral degree, Helen Kim (who later became the university's first Korean president); the first female Korean lawyer, Lee Tai-young; the first female justice on the Constitutional Court, Jeon Hyo-sook, and the first female prime minister, Han Myeong-sook, were all Ewha graduates. The "firsts" is in part due to the fact that many Korean women in older generations were discouraged from attending co-ed universities in Korea. Ewha's zeal to remain at the vanguard of women's education in Korea is encapsulated in its new motto, "Frontier Ewha."

1886 - In May, Mary F. Scranton, an American Methodist missionary, opens Korea's first school for women in her house with a single student. In November, the construction of a school building (the former base of Ewha Womans University) is completed in Jeong-dong.

1887 - King Gojong officially names the school "Ihwa (also Ewha)."

1910 - College courses begin.

1925 - Ewha Women's Professional School opens.

1935 - The campus moves to its current location.

1946 - Ewha becomes Ewha Womans University, Korea's first university for women.

1950 - Ewha graduate schools open.

1977 - Women's Studies classes begin.

1984 - The School of Continuing Education opens.

1996 - Ewha opens its College of Engineering, the first such school in a women's university.

2001 - Division of International Studies established.

2006 - Ewha offers inaugural Ewha Global Partnership Program and completes the restoration of Ewha Hakdang.

2007 - Ewha establishes Scranton College, a specialized undergraduate college incorporating its honors program and the Division of International Studies.

[edit] Reputation & Ranking

Admission to Ewha Womans University is selective. According to the Joongang Daily's ranking of universities in Korea, Ewha Womans University was ranked 9th in 2003 and most recently, 8th in 2007. However, the university has been ranked within the top 3 in the NCSI (National Consumer Satisfaction Index) University rankings for 4 consecutive years.

[edit] Areas of Specialization

Ewha has largely 8 specialization areas: Life science, Nanoscience, IT, Design Technology, Women’s studies, Korean Studies, Business Management and International Studies.

Life science triggered Ewha's specialization efforts and represents the school's 8 specialization programs. It started to grab attention by receiving 3.5 billion KRW of funding as it earned the spot in BK21 project promoted by MOE. Ewha's life science program also received extra funding of 9.9 billion KRW from the Ministry of Science and Technology. Industry-academia cooperation is brisk as well earning funding of 9 billion KRW from SK over a 3-year period and 5 billion KRW from LF--a life science startup--for 5 years. Ewha's life science recorded the highest IF (Impact Factor: A quantitative measure of the frequency with which the "average article" published in a given scholarly journal has been cited in a particular year or period) in Korea recording a whopping 8.6 last year. It also holds 6 international patents and 13 domestic patents. Ewha's Nanoscience program received support from the school in earnest as it won the spot in Ewha specialization project in 2003. The Division of Nanoscience was established at the graduate school in the same year. It achieved excellent performance in a short period in industry-academia cooperation with 15 companies such as Amorepacific, Leadgene, Scinco, and Bipolymed. Life Science and Nanoscience are the two engines that lead Ewha’s strength in engineering and natural science.

[edit] Organization

The undergraduate departments of Ewha are divided among 11 colleges with 65 departments. Likewise, the graduate courses are divided into 13 graduate schools.

College of Liberal Arts

College of Social Sciences

College of Engineering

College of Natural Sciences

College of Arts (Music/Fine Arts/Design)

College of Law

College of Pharmacy

College of Education

College of Business Administration

College of Health Sciences

Scranton College (Honors Program, International Studies)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ewha Information. Ewha Womans University Official Website.
  2. ^ Lee Jeong-kyu. (2001). The establishment of modern universities in Korea and their implications for Korean education policies. In Education Policy Analysis Archives 9 (27)

[edit] Notable alumnae

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Administrative Divisions (Gu) of Seoul
Cities
See Also