By Jeff Samoray, OU Web Writer

For students who wish to broaden their cultural horizons, Oakland University offers study abroad opportunities in Austria, China, England, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Korea soon will be added to that list.

On Feb. 14, OU entered into a partnership agreement with Chungnam National University (CNU), located in Daejeon City, Korea, to facilitate academic interchange between the two universities, including opportunities for students and faculty. Specific course programs, research projects and faculty partnerships currently are being developed across the curriculum, said John Gardner, dean of the School of Business.

“This agreement provides students and faculty opportunities to interact through an exchange program. There will be short programs of up to a month as well as full-year study abroad opportunities,” Gardner said. “Faculty members will be able to engage in research, share in course development and have sabbaticals there.

"Chungnam is considered one of the four best universities in Korea with about 24,000 students in 12 colleges, so it’s a great opportunity for reciprocal exchange between our students and faculty. And this agreement is consistent with what we’re trying to do as a university in providing a global framework for the education of our students.”

In continuing to seek opportunities to enhance its academic relations with the United States, CNU approached OU last fall through Professor and Acting Chair of Economics Miron Stano, whose brother-in-law, Kwang Jin Rhee, is president of CNU. CNU also has partnerships with South Dakota State University and the University of California, Riverside.

“Chungnam already had a connection to us and they expressed a strong interest in partnering with us,” Gardner said. “Professor Stano acted as a liaison between OU and Chungnam. In the School of Business, we’ve also initiated the process of establishing relationships with other universities in Russia, India, China, France and Mexico.”

Gardner added that, from a business perspective, Korea is a perfect country with which to establish relations.

“With the emerging global business environment, the studying of foreign cultures is very important, and we want our exchange programs to be very active” Gardner said. “I think Korea is a country going through great growth and change in its business environment, and their universities are very open to forming partnerships with foreign institutions. It’s fertile ground for this type of agreement.”

For more information on study abroad programs available at Oakland University, contact the Center for International Programs, 430 Wilson Hall, at (248) 370-2140.