Oxford to forge ties with Korean schools

By Bahk Eun-ji

Andrew Hamilton, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, gives a lecture at Hana High School in Seoul, April 4, as part of the British Council Korea’s public lecture series. / Courtesy of the British Council

So far many leading universities have been interested in setting up global campuses abroad.

Some like the State University of New York have begun to work as a partner with Korea, in order to achieve academic benefits as they work together. However, one of the world’s leading universities, Oxford, has no plan to set up a campus abroad.

“It took Oxford 900 years to build one campus in Oxford. It would probably take us 900 years to build another campus,” said Andrew Hamilton, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford.

Prof. Hamilton visited Korea to participate in the British Council Korea’s public lecture series to deliver a speech at Hana High School in Seoul. He delivered a lecture titled: “Reflections on globalization in higher education.”

“A key part of Oxford education is being in Oxford, which is based on the college structure. There are 38 colleges in Oxford and every student who studies in Oxford is a member of a college, and some of the colleges go back to the 12th century. Their architecture is beautiful that creates a community of scholars. That is a very important part of the education experience,” he said.

He also pointed out these are all parts that will take a very long time to reproduce in Korea or anywhere else.

“Instead of opening campuses we have extensive collaborations around the world. I will argue that there is no university in the world that has a more international footprint than Oxford. We have research centers in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, China and Africa,” he said.

“We have extensive collaborations here. One of the many reasons for my trip to Korea was to visit collaborative research institutes, here in Korea, one in Yonsei University in astrophysics. So we prefer rather than building campuses like NYU, we prefer to focus on research collaborations that are centered round very important problems in the 21st century,” the vice-chancellor said.

The following are questions and answers:

Q: What made you decide to visit Korea?

A:

We recognize that Korea is a major player both in global education and in the global economy. We are committed to recruiting outstanding Korean students and we also want to forge deeper research links with Korea’s world-class universities and leading industrial players.

My lecture, the first of the British Council’s ‘Great’ lecture series in Seoul, discusses how universities can achieve and sustain the very highest international standards in research and teaching.

I am also delighted to receive an honorary doctorate from Yonsei University, a university which shares Oxford’s pursuit of excellence in scholarship.

Q: What is your impression of young Korean students? Do you see any differences between them and those of Oxford?

The current number of Korean students at Oxford is more than 110, making Korea the seventh-largest source of non-European students for the university.

We recognize that Korea provides one of the best education systems in the world, turning out excellent students. That is why we are doing our utmost to raise funds to provide more scholarships for more Koreans wanting to study at Oxford.

Oxford is a diverse place with more than a third of our total student body being international. More than 40 percent of our academic staff are from countries outside the United Kingdom.

Q: Why did you choose the topic: “Reflections on globalization in higher education?”

By globalization I mean the process by which universities become increasingly interconnected with people and institutions across the world.

Globalization has several faces: student and staff mobility; international research collaborations and funding; the establishment of new offices, and, underpinning this expansion of international links, the increasing number of globally outstanding universities outside their traditional concentrations in the United States and Britain.

I believe it is a relevant topic and hope it provides food for thought. While globalization is increasing competition, universities can be open to the opportunities to deliver a richer education to their students and research that takes advantage of the best colleagues and resources around the world.

Q: A lot of universities in Korea put more emphasis on research than teaching and learning as they’re evaluated mainly based on the research-related performance, for example, the number of articles listed on SCI (Science Citation Index). I heard that Oxford pursues both teaching and research. How do you strike a balance between them?

An Oxford education is a transformative experience. The ways you learn to think, and the close involvement in research at the cutting edge of human knowledge, will transform you.

The tutors at Oxford are leaders in their field, carrying out research that is both innovative and relevant to the students’ area of study. Many of our students are also carrying out their own research and it is important that the best, brightest minds are learning from the very best in their field.

Q: A lot of companies in Korea complain that universities don’t teach practical knowledge and skill, which the companies need. What do you think is the most important thing when teaching the students in the university? Is it the problem-solving ability or practical knowledge?

Being able to think for yourself, and thereby solve problems through analytical thinking, is the most important thing you can learn at university and this lies at the heart of an Oxford education.

The practical knowledge is also important: for instance, the university’s Blavatnik School of Government puts a lot of emphasis on the practical approach to issues of policy and government around the world.