UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles An International College in South Korea as a Third Space between Korean and US Models of Higher Education A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Education by Stephanie Kim 2014 © Copyright by Stephanie Kim 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION An International College in South Korea as a Third Space between Korean and US Models of Higher Education by Stephanie Kim Doctor of Philosophy in Education University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Val D. Rust, Chair Under the slogan of internationalization, Korean universities have opened international colleges that promise an educational experience on par with elite universities anywhere in the world. These colleges conduct their classes in English and hire Western faculty members as a way to create campus settings that better attract and accommodate foreign students. What is the meaning of “international” in this context? Based on 12 months of fieldwork, my dissertation offers an ethnographic study of an international college in South Korea to uncover underlying assumptions and meanings in the internationalization of higher education. By using an international college as a point of entry, I argue that internationalization reforms equate to the adoption of Anglo-Saxon academic paradigms by which Korean universities have been modeled after in the internationalization of higher education more broadly. With international colleges in particular, the kinds of research activities that count as ii international are not just being adopted, but the knowledge workers themselves—“imported” faculty members from the United States and Western Europe—are brought into a Korean university setting as a way to attract as many foreign students as possible. However, the majority of students who enroll at an international college are not foreign but Korean, and thus, what these international colleges have turned into are actually domestic alternatives for Korean students who would otherwise study abroad. What is created when Anglo-Saxon academic paradigms confront a primarily Korean student body is a Third Space of hybrid pedagogical practices, languages, and social interactions that I explore and analyze. At the same time, meanings of international take on racialized and paradoxical undertones whereby Western faculty members are strategically appropriated as a commodity for an international college while the Korean students who attend struggle to integrate within the larger Korean university because their affiliation with an international college positions them as outsiders. The tensions and contradictions that a Korean university faces in its internationalization agenda speak to a broader conception of how South Korea sees its place within a multicultural landscape. iii The dissertation of Stephanie Kim is approved. John N. Hawkins Douglas Kellner Robert M. Oppenheim Mariko Tamanoi Val D. Rust, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv in loving memory of JaHyun Kim Haboush v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 PART I. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 16 Chapter 1. Education Fever: A Korean Learning Ecology 17 Chapter 2. Framing the Globalization Debate in Korean Higher Education 51 PART II. AN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE IN SOUTH KOREA 80 Chapter 3. Research Design and Researcher Identity 81 Chapter 4. The College: Tensions and Contradictions 99 Chapter 5. The Faculty: Surviving Academia in a Korean University 157 Chapter 6. The Students: Language, Consciousness, and Identity 191 Chapter 7. Conclusion: Meanings of ‘International’ 237 APPENDICES 248 Appendix 1. Interview Guideline for UIC Administration at Yonsei University 249 Appendix 2. List of Interviewees of UIC Administration at Yonsei University 250 Appendix 3. Interview Guideline for Faculty Members at Yonsei University 251 Appendix 4. List of Interviewees of Faculty Members at Yonsei University 252 Appendix 5. Interview Guideline for Students at Yonsei University 253 Appendix 6. List of Interviewees of Students at Yonsei University 254 BIBLIOGRAPHY 255 vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1.1. Expansion of Korean Higher Education, 1960-2010 41 Table 2.1. Distribution of Top 100 in the Shanghai (2003) and THE (2004) Rankings 54 Table 2.2. Distribution of Study Abroad Destinations of Students from East Asia and the Pacific, 2007 60 Table 2.3. Korean Students in Higher Education Overseas, 1991-2011 64 Table 2.4. Foreign Student Enrollment in Korean Higher Education Institutions, 2000-2012 66 Table 2.5. Scientific Citation Index Journal Publications in South Korea, 1998-2004 68 Table 2.6. Full-Time Foreign Faculty Members in Korean Higher Education, 2005-2012 69 Table 4.1. Admissions Categories and Qualifications for UIC Students 107 Figure 5.1. Portrayal of Caucasian students 173 Figure 5.2. Token Korean student amidst racially non-Korean students 174 Figure 5.3. Non-Korean student depicted as “global leader” 175 Figure 5.4. White male faculty members portrayed in domineering positions 176 Figure 5.5. Elevating status of white male students 177 Figure 5.6. Korean and/or female students portrayed in passive positions 178 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the help of many people. I thank the members of my committee, John N. Hawkins, Douglas Kellner, Mariko Tamanoi, and Robert M. Oppenheim. I am especially grateful to my advisor, Val D. Rust, for his patience and wisdom throughout my graduate school career. I also want to acknowledge all those who had a supporting role in this process: Fulbright Korea, Shim Jai Ok, Cho Han Haejoang, the Comparative and International Education Society, Jae-Eun Jon, Soo-yong Byun, the Social Science Research Council, Jun Yoo, Jennifer Jihye Chun, and Serk-Bae Suh. A heartfelt thank you goes to all the students and faculty members whom I met at Yonsei University. Without you, this project would not have been possible. And a special thank you goes to one particular faculty member, whom I will refrain from naming, but who was invaluable in guiding my inquiries and providing commentary on some chapter drafts. Of course, I could not have achieved anything without the support of my family—Mom, Dad, and Alexis—and my new family—Jack and Bruce. Portions of this dissertation were previously published. A section of chapter 2 was published in a journal article entitled “The Global Competition in Higher Education” (2012), World Studies in Education 13(1): 5-20. Other sections of chapter 2 were published in a book chapter entitled “Framing the Globalisation Debate in Korean Higher Education” (2013), Korea 2013: Politics, Economy and Society (Brill). A condensed and revised version of chapter 4 was published as a journal article entitled “English is for Dummies: Linguistic Contradictions at an International College in South Korea” (2014), Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education DOI:10.1080/03057925.2014.922409. viii VITA 2004 B.A., English Language and Literature University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 2008 M.S., Global Affairs New York University New York, New York 2008-2009 English Language Teacher Chinatown Youth Initiatives New York, New York 2009-2011 Research Assistant & Administrative Co-Director, Center for International and Development Education University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, California 2011-2012 Fulbright Junior Researcher Fulbright Korea Seoul, South Korea 2012-2013 Teaching Assistant, First Year Experience University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, California 2013-2014 Teaching Associate, Writing Programs University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, California ix VITA PUBLICATIONS Kim, S. K. (2014). English is for Dummies: Linguistic Contradictions at an International College in South Korea. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. DOI:10.1080/03057925.2014.922409 Kim, S. K. (2013). Framing the Globalisation Debate in Korean Higher Education. In R. Frank, J. E. Hoare, P. Köllner, and S. Pares (Eds.), Korea 2013: Politics, Economy and Society (pp. 137-159). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. Rust, V. D., & Kim, S. (2012). Global Competition in Higher Education. World Studies in Education 13(1), 5-20. Kim, S. K., & Kim, L. H.R. (2012). The Need for Multicultural Education in South Korea. In David A. Urias (Ed.), The Immigration and Education Nexus: A Focus on the Context and Consequences of Schooling (pp. 243-251). Boston, MA: Sense Publishers. PRESENTATIONS Kim, S. K. (2014). A Contradictory Linguistic Space at an International College in South Korea. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada, March 10-15. Kim, S. K. (2013). Framing the Globalization Debate in Korean Higher Education. Paper presented at the World Congress for Korean Politics and Society, Seoul, South Korea, August 22-23. Kim, S. K. (2013). Rise of International Colleges in South Korea: The Underwood Model. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, March 10-15. Kim, S. K. (2012). Framing Language Politics in University Practices: A Case Study of South Korea. Paper presented at the Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong Annual Conference, Hong Kong, February 25. Kim, S. K. (2011). Politics of English in the Korean Academe. Paper presented at the Worldwide Forum for Comparative Education, Beijing, China, October 21-24. Kim, S. K., & Kim, L. H.R. (2011). The Need for Multicultural