Korean Christianity Professorship at UCLA

US$1 Million Fund-Raising Drive

The Center for Korean Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, seeks to establish a Distinguished Professorship in Korean Christianity. We are asking for the help of the Korean and Korean-American Christian communities to raise the funds necessary to establish this position permanently at UCLA.

Why a Professorship of Korean Christianity?

• Korea has one of the most dynamic and creative Christian traditions in the world today, which is deserving of study in its own right.
• Korean Christians have begun to play a major role in world Christianity, including leading active ministries on virtually every continent, serving in leadership roles on many church governing bodies, and spearheading charitable activities around the world. This worldwide presence needs to be better recognized and understood by non-Koreans.
• For understanding modern Korea, the importance of Christianity to the broader culture cannot be underestimated. Just as Buddhism and Confucianism made important cultural contributions in traditional Korea, so too has Christianity been exceedingly influential in modern Korea.
• The few courses now taught in the West on Korean Christianity occur in seminaries and theological schools. It is time for Korean Christianity to enter the mainstream curriculum at eminent public universities like UCLA.

Why Should a Professorship of Korean Christianity be Established at UCLA?

• UCLA has the largest Korean Studies program in the continental United States, with more full-time professors and more courses on Korea than any other university.
• UCLA already has in place an extensive program in Korean religion. We offer regular courses in Korean Buddhism and Confucianism, including introductory lecture courses, specialized reading courses in Korean and literary Chinese, and graduate seminars for advanced students. But we are not as yet able to offer any courses on Christianity in Korea.
• UCLA has the largest enrollments of Korean-American students in the United States: 3,300 in 1997, over 10% of the entire student body. Some 80% of these students come from Christian families, but have no courses available to them on the Korean Christian tradition. Such courses would help to strengthen these students’ identities as both Korean and Christian.
• UCLA seeks through these courses to strengthen its ties with the Korean Christian communities in both Korea and the United States.

Why a Distinguished Professorship?

This appointment will allow UCLA to bring the most distinguished scholars of Korean Christianity in either Korea or the United States to campus for at least one quarter a year to teach courses for undergraduate and graduate students. Rather than limit our coverage of this field to that of a single scholar in a single discipline, this rotating position will therefore allow UCLA to address Korean Christianity from a variety of scholarly perspectives.

For gift opportunities related to this position, please contact the Center.