Educational Objective
Korean cultural assets, most of which are Buddhist cultural assets, are not only valuable resources containing the spirit and soul of our ancestors, but also sources of concrete data that prove the universal truth of Buddhism, a world religion. Once destroyed, the original form of cultural heritage related to Buddhism will never be known again, so investigation, research, preservation, and utilization of them are a common duty and task of our people and furthermore, of mankind. The Department of Cultural Heritage aims to nurture professional intellectuals who can investigate, study, exhibit, educate, preserve, and manage various movables, real estate, and intangible resources related to Buddhism.
The Department of Cultural Heritage aims to nurture talented people with the qualifications who can engage in professional occupations in various fields of society, such as art historians, archaeologists, conservation scientists, museologists, and cultural administrators, after graduation by allowing them to cultivate basic knowledge to study, preserve, and utilize art and archaeological materials from Korea, India, China, and Japan in a wide range of fields and eras.
Recent Trends and Prospects of the Studies
The educational content of the Department of Cultural Heritage is mainly divided into theory and practice. In the theoretical education, various academic fields such as archeology, art history, conservation science, and museology are gradually shifting away from the philological research trend toward linkage or convergence with neighboring studies. Reflecting the above, the Department of Cultural Heritage provides education on basic concepts and theories, and then conducts education in connection with excavation sites, ruins sites, museum sites, and conservation science sites in order to allow the students to acquire practical knowledge with on-site practical skills. It aims to become a comprehensive and practical academic field that combines theory and practice by conducting comparative analysis of the theory of Buddhist cultural heritage and specific ruins and relics to ensure that the two are interdependent and complementary.
Career Path after Graduation
The Department of Cultural Heritage is expected to produce the best talent in the field of Korean Buddhist cultural heritage by providing systematic education so that research and education in different fields such as art history, archeology, and conservation science can be integrated and converged based mainly on the core value of ‘Buddhism’. They will be able to advance into various fields such as the Buddhist Museum run by each Buddhist group, cultural heritage excavation institutions, the Cultural Heritage Administration, the National Museum, academia, religious press, and media etc. In addition, the recently widened door to graduate school is opening another way to advance into society for talented people who want in-depth academic training.
