Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (abbreviated as HUFS; Korean: 한국외국어대학교) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. The university currently teaches 45 foreign languages. In addition, it contains studies in humanities, law, political science, social sciences, business, medical science, natural sciences, and engineering.

History

In April 1954, HUFS was founded as a college for studying foreign languages in by Kim Heung-bae with its first students studying English, French, Chinese, German, Spanish and Russian.

In 2012, U.S President Barack Obama, during his visit to Korea, spoke at Hankuk University in Seoul about global progress toward nuclear non-proliferation.

Throughout its history, the university has been visited by numerous foreign dignitaries, including Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Viktor Orban of Hungary, Abdullah Gul of Turkey, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of Mongolia, Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland, and many others.

Education

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has over 50 departments covering Social Sciences, Eastern European Studies, Humanities, Asia-African Studies, and Natural Sciences. The university contributes to regional studies, with graduate courses in international and regional studies.

Since 2004 the closely associated Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, based at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, has been offering online courses in English, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, as well as business administration, journalism, and mass communication.

HUFS runs a foreign language examination system (FLEX). The FLEX Center is developing examinations for 19 languages in addition to the seven languages currently administered (English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese). It plans for 26 languages more.

As of October 2014, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has academic exchange program agreements with 431 universities and 139 institutions throughout 88 nations.

Academic reputation

HUFS regularly ranks among the top universities in South Korea, especially in the fields of humanities and social sciences.

In 2020, eight HUFS students passed the Korean diplomat bar exam, the second most in the country behind only Seoul National University. In 2019, the school ranked third in the country with six successful examinees.

FLEX

Under the foreign language certification system, students who have double majors are required to achieve certain scores on the FLEX (Foreign Language EXamination) test for graduation, apart from graduation certification. In principle, students need to receive certification on their proficiency in foreign language.

There are many languages in FLEX, including English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Indian languages, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Polish, Dutch and so on.

Law School

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has a school of law, making it one of the 25 universities in Korea which have a law school.

Graduate School of TESOL

HUFS Graduate School of TESOL is divided into two concentrations: the Department of English Language Teaching and the Department of ELT Contents Development.

The program offers late afternoon and evening courses for working students who are unable to attend classes during the day.

Other fields

• Graduate School of Education
• Graduate School of Politics, Government and Communication
• Graduate School of Business

Campus

The university is composed of two campuses, the Seoul Campus located in Imun-dong of Seoul, and the Global Campus in Yongin.

The Seoul Campus is focused on major languages, humanities, and social sciences, while the Global Campus teaches additional languages not provided in Seoul, namely Polish, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Ukrainian, Greek, Bulgarian, Central Asian languages (Kazakh and Uzbek) and African languages (such as Swahili), as well as engineering and natural sciences.

The university is currently planning on building a third campus focused on artificial intelligence and big data in Songdo International Business District, after having secured 300 billion won in investment funding from Korea Investment & Securities, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and ZINOL D&C.

College divisions

Seoul Campus

• College of English
• Department of English Linguistics and Language Technology (ELLT)
• Department of English Literature and Culture
• Department of English for International Conferences and Communication (EICC)
• College of Occidental Languages
• Division of French
• Applied French Linguistics and Literature
• FATI
• French and European Studies
• Department of German
• Department of Russian
• Department of Spanish
• Department of Italian
• Department of Portuguese
• Department of Dutch
• Department of Scandinavian Languages
• College of Asian Languages & Cultures
• Department of Malay-Indonesian
• Department of Arabic
• Department of Thai
• Department of Vietnamese
• Department of Hindi
• Department of Turkish and Azerbaijani
• Department of Persian
• Department of Mongolian
• College of Chinese
• Division of Chinese Language, Literature and Culture
• Division of Chinese Foreign Affairs and Commerce
• College of Japanese
• Division of Japanese Language, Literature and Culture
• Division of Integrated Japanese Studies
• College of Social Sciences
• Department of Political Science and Diplomacy
• Department of Public Administration
• Division of Media & Communication
• Journalism & Information
• Broadcasting∙Film∙New Media
• Advertising∙Public Relations∙Branding
• College of Business and Economics
• Department of International Economics & Law
• Division of Economics
• Business School
• Business Administration Division
• College of Education
• Department of English Education
• Department of French Education
• Department of German Education
• Department of Korean Education
• Department of Chinese Education
• Division of International Studies
• Division of International Studies
• Division of Language & Diplomacy
• Division of Language & Diplomacy
• Division of Language & Trade
• Division of Language & Trade
• Division of Korean as a Foreign Language
• Division of Korean as a Foreign Language
• Minerva College (Seoul)
• Minerva College - Center for Writing & International Ethics (Non-Diploma)

Global Campus

• College of Interpretation and Translation
• School of English for Interpretation and Translation
• English-Korean Interpretation and Translation Studies
• Interpretation and Translation for International Trade and Relations in English-Speaking Areas
• English Literature and Translation
• TESOL & English Linguistics
• Department of German Interpretation and Translation
• Department of Spanish Interpretation and Translation
• Department of Italian Interpretation and Translation
• Department of Chinese Interpretation and Translation
• Department of Japanese Interpretation and Translation
• Department of Thai Interpretation and Translation
• Department of Arabic Interpretation and Translation

Additional educational organizations

Foreign Language Testing and Training: The foreign language training institute was established in 1974 with support from the government and the Korea International Trade Association to provide language training to public officials and staff of companies who do business abroad.

Center for Interpretation and Translation: The agency specializes in interpretation and translation studies.

Center for Korean Language and Culture: The Center for Korean Language and Culture is an educational institute that provides Korean language education to help people from around the world to achieve a good command of Korean and a correct understanding of Korean culture while also nurturing Korean language teachers.

i-HUFS Enterprise: A school-based business, i-HUFS Enterprise was founded in November 2003 to apply the knowledge and information about languages and culture that HUFS retains for the education of students and for study by professors toward research to develop educational programs that can generate profit.

Global Leadership Academy: The Global Leadership Academy opened in 2001 to produce area experts based on education in 45 major languages used worldwide and the area studies programs available at HUFS.

University Press Center: Established in 1954 together with the university, the University Press Center has published 39 foreign language dictionaries including Korea's first Russian-Korean dictionary in 1963 and a 'Practical Malay∙Indonesian-Korean dictionary' in 2008.

FLEX Center: The center was established to manage and operate FLEX (Foreign Language Examination). FLEX was developed by HUFS and is jointly administered with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Tests are administered in seven languages: English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese.

HUFS TESOL Professional Education Center: In response to the rising demand for English teachers equipped with language and teaching knowledge, the HUFS TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Professional Education Center was established as an independent educational institution. The center offers all instruction required of English education professionals including teaching methods and application of theory to the field, as well as the evaluation, review, and production of learning materials in addition to English language training.

Seoul Institute for Continuing Education: The Seoul Institute for Continuing Education was established in August 2010 to realize the philosophy of continuing education. It serves local communities by granting public access to HUFS teaching faculty and educational infrastructure.

Ranking

In the QS Ranking 2024, the university was ranked 575th in the world.

Notable alumni

Politics, government and public service

• Cho Kwang-han, mayor of Namyangju
• Cho Won-jin, politician
• Chung Bong-ju, politician
• Kim Byong-joon, politician
• Kim Chong-in, former leader of both the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the main opposition People Power Party in South Korea
• Oh Se-hoon, mayor of Seoul
• Pang Ha-nam, former Minister of Employment and Labor
• Yu Eui-dong, politician

Academia

• Kim Eun-kyung, professor
• Yongcheol Shin, economist and professor at the University of York
• Joo-Heon Shin, professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and director at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development

Business

• Gene Yoon, chairman of Fila
• Lee Sung-soo, CEO of SM Entertainment
• Moon Kook-hyun, former CEO of Yuhan-Kimberly and presidential candidate in the 2007 South Korean presidential election
• Chen Kang, chairman of Assetplus Asset Management

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)