Alberta University Stresses Interdisciplinary Studies
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
``Specialization'' is no longer a global term for one of Canada’s top schools. University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera, 55, stressed the importance of interdisciplinary studies in order to foster global-minded students.
``There is a rapidly growing trend toward interdisciplinary teaching and research plus emphasis on research at the undergraduate level,’’ the school head said.
``Students are starting to understand the concept and benefit of interdisciplinary research approaches, which is opening their eyes to entirely new areas of studies and opportunities to work collaboratively across a wide variety of disciplines,’’ she added.
Opened in 1908 as a public university in Edmonton, Alberta, west of Canada, the University of Alberta has about 36,000 students in more than 200 undergraduate programs, 170 graduate programs and international students from over 120 countries.
Health sciences, the environment, engineering, business, and humanities are popular fields of study at the school. Especially, Alberta has seen remarkable interest in agriculture, petroleum engineering and nanotechnology, according to the school.
``Alberta offers expertise in polar research, and is home to the Canadian Circumpolar Institute and the Canadian International Polar Year secretariat, which have established an interdisciplinary school for energy and the environment, the first school of public health in Canada, and the only faculty of rehabilitation medicine in Canada,’’ Samarasekera said.
Like other global universities around the world, Alberta has seen a growing number of foreign students. The percentage of international students to the total student body at the undergraduate level has increased from approximately three percent in 2002 to five percent in 2007, and the percentage of international graduate students has increased from 24.8 percent in 2002 to 25.4 percent in 2006. The school is looking to increase the number of undergraduate international students to 15 percent by the year 2012.
The school has 54 new Korean students this year _ over half of those who applied for undergraduate studies were admitted. Korean students show interest in the arts, science, engineering, business, and, at the graduate level, education according to the school.
Regarding the growing number of Korean students who go abroad at an early age, the school president said there can be differences in the level of English proficiency between those who studied abroad at an early age and those who did not. ``In some cases those who have studied abroad may already be more accustomed to life in a foreign country, which could facilitate the process of adapting to a new environment,’’ she said.
The school has continued a vigorous partnership with many Korean institutions. Gangwon Province of Korea has been a sister province of Alberta since 1974 and through that partnership, it has developed programs such as the Kangwondo Teacher Education Project (KTEP) in which English teachers have been sent by the Gangwon Province Board of Education to the university for pedagogy training every summer since 1984.
Other ties between the school and Korea include a new joint-research project between the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) and Professor Murray Gingras in earth and atmospheric sciences.
``The work will focus on the Alberta oil sands, in which the Korean government invested $270 million last year. There are also links between the school’s Theoretical Physics Institute and the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics in Korea,’’ she said.
Lastly, Samarasekera noted the school faculty and students have a great interest in Korea and this year it started Korean language classes, which have been fully subscribed.
Prior to coming to Alberta, Samarasekera served five years as vice president at the University of British Columbia. She became the 12th president of the school in July 2005.