Brief History
Introduction
The Department of History of Korea University was established in August 1946, when Bosung College was elevated to the status of a university and renamed Korea University. The Department of History too suffered from the ruins of the Korean War, but it began to develop in an amazing speed since the armistice of 1953. The alumni of the Department of History are now performing a crucial role in various areas of Korean society. In 1989, the Department of history reached a turning point to be divided into three different departments: Department of Korean History, Department of Eastern History, and Department of Western History. The three departments came to develop their own characteristics to rival and support each other. In March 2004, Department of Eastern History and Department of Western History reunited in the name of Department of History, while Department of Korean History remaining seperate, in order to provide the students with professional knowledge in the field of world history in the age of globalization.
The Department of History provides both floater and major courses from basic regional history to advanced courses such as intellectual, gender, cultural, and science history. The Department of History faculty is composed of seven professors in each fields of history for students to receive a balanced historical perspective. Also, there are two visiting professors from China and Europe each semester in order to promote the students to obtain a well-rounded international understanding.
There are several seminar groups with various objectives established within the Department of History. Also, annual field study trip is held for students to enlarge their boundaries of historical thought. Every other year, field study programs leaving for China and Japan are organized. Programs for Europe and America are being developed. The alumni of the Department of History not only continue their studies in graduate schools but also are actively participating in positions that require historical knowledge, for instance media, institutes, private companies and etc.
There are two graduate programs for Eastern History and Western History. Students may chose to study different era, region, and nation for their field of work. Eastern History course includes Chinese (ancient, medieval, early modern, late modern, contemporary), Japanese, South East Asian, Indian, and Arabic history. As for Western History course, it is divided into classical, medieval, early modern, late modern, contemporary history and students may decide on specific nation (e.g. Greece, Rome, France, Britain, Germany, Russia, Americas) according to their interest. Taught degree students and research degree students are all educated with a tight curriculum which contains source analysis and foreign language.