This upcoming Saturday is the 60th anniversary of the foundation of Chonnam National University (CNU). Its members have been preparing for this anniversary by planning a variety of events under the theme of ‘Human Creative’, which is CNU’s new vision to commemorate the 60th anniversary and to cultivate the talents of students and future leaders in various fields. It is divided into four main fields: nature, society, art and technology. The leading people in those fields are named as Euiin (righteous person), Yein (artistic person), Seonin (virtuous person) and Giin (technical person). Let’s look into the activities of the organizations and programs that accord with the core idea of CNU’s 60th Anniversary, ‘Human-Creative’.
 
Society and Art
A Euiin is a person who pursues the value of human rights, democracy and peace. It also refers to a person who seeks futuristic values of civil rights such as coexistence, respect, trust and harmony. It is deeply connection with the May 18 Democratic Uprising and CNUians’ fight for democracy in Korea since the 1980s. Every year in May a lot of events related to the democratic uprising and human rights are held at CNU, such as the May Song Festival and the May 18 Symposium. One of representative examples in the fields is the Center for Public Interest and Human Rights Law, which was established in 2006. Since CNU Law school is specialized for human rights and democracy, the center has provided many research activities and educational programs regarding human rights and democracy.
A Yein is the person who tries to protect the tradition and culture of Gwangju and to enhance this city’s position as an assembly place of East Asian and global culture. Gwangju is designated as the capital of culture in Asia and is doing various works such as Kimchi festival, Gwangju Music Festival and the Kunsthalle Gwangju. As the leading nationaluniversity in Gwangju and the Jeolla region, CNU has been involved in the preservation of traditional Korean culture and the promotion of cultural exchange and understanding between different countries. For example, in 2006 CNU built the only Graduate School of Culture in South Korea. This school is in charge of educating its students to creative and culture-related professional human resources. The Office of International Affairs (OIA) is also doing its work to increase cultural exchange between CNU and other foreign universities through a range of programs. Basically, the OIA dispatches many local students to foreign countries and offers support programs for international students such Cultural Field Trips. It also operates International Summer Session classes for students who want to study with famous foreign professors for a short period. The Center for Teaching and Learning provides a program called ‘Nuriduri’, in which each study group has to be composed of international and Korean students. This is a program for international students for better studies and life at CNU through the activities of collaborative learning with Korean students.
 
 
Nature and Technology
A Seonin is a person who specializes in the natural and ecological environment sector including biotechnology, agriculture, fisheries, and environmentally-friendly agriculture. As the land of our region called ‘Honam’ has been very fertile from old times, the Gwangju Agriculture School was founded in 1909 to encourage innovation in agricultural technology. It took the first step in creating the history of CNU. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences was formerly known as the Gwangju Agriculture School. The farming culture of Honam province has been passed down to CNUians since that time. To strengthen global competitiveness in the field CNU has been doing many projects inside and outside the university. For example, on March 30th, the Gwangju Institute of Health and Environment and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) signed the MOU and agreed to cooperate to develop new foods using natural resources. Also Damyang-gun in South Jeolla Province announced on May 12nd that it has plans to enhance power in agriculture through several joint researches and exchanges with the CALS.
Lastly, a Giin is the person who studies technological sciences such as New Renewable Energy, Biotechnology and Bio-Housing. South Korea is famous for its IT industry and investment in the field of science and technology. CNU also challenges this field and raises potential students who could become a Giin in the future.
CNU expects that it will help Korea to be the most creative country in various fields of the technological sector. Actually, CNUians are individually and collectively active in this area these days. Recently, Kim Su-man (Senior, School of Biological Sciences and Technology) presented a paper about the decomposing process of electrical factors of protein for a technical science journal ‘Journal of Cell Science’. Also, Jang Yu-na (Freshman, Dept. of Chemistry) was selected as the first student from CNU to receive the prestigious Presidential Science Scholarship in March, 2012. CNUians are also doing well in groups. CNU is selected as the Korea Women Science Technician Supporter Center in Honam-Jeju region and received financial support of 500 million won annually for 5 years. It will operate special training programs for female students who major in science and engineering by providing mentoring programs with female scientists, education and training for them.
 
Human Creative Power
As above mentioned stories, CNU started as just one of the agriculture schools in this region. Thanks to the support of local residents for many years the small school was able to develop into a representative university for Gwangju, the Jeolla region and for South Korea. Now the university is preparing to be a world class university by strengthening its international competitiveness. Even though CNU suffered hard times during the 1980s, by challenging lots of global projects it is trying to make its name not only in South Korea but also around the world. Approaching the 60th anniversary, the Chonnam Tribune hopes that CNU will become a leading university by educating its students with wisdom and passion as creative human resources for the future under its new vision.
By Pyun Ja-seong, Tribune Reporter

[Special Report]

저작권자 © Chonnam Tribune 무단전재 및 재배포 금지