One aspect of Hawaii Tokai International College’s educational mission is to serve as an international gateway institution that promotes cross-cultural awareness by encouraging students to live, study, and consistently interact with people of different backgrounds. In order to meet this goal, HTIC now offers “Discover Korea” as another of its “Discover East Asia” certificate programs. Participants will receive an East Asian Studies certificate with their A.A. degree diplomas after earning 15 HTIC credits, including a minimum of six credits during their study abroad experience in Korea.

The Discover Korea program is open to all full-time HTIC students who are non-native speakers of Korean. It provides the opportunity for participants to study in a 10-week intensive language program at Hanyang University, which is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in Korea. This program is very much in keeping with HTIC's educational mission and the College's liberal arts program learning outcomes of cross-cultural understanding, second language acquisition, and global citizenship.

Students wishing to participate must be enrolled in HTIC and have completed at least two terms before becoming eligible for the program. Students without first-year Korean language ability will take KOR 101 (Winter term) and KOR 102 (Spring term) before departing for Korea. Korean language study should include a minimum of 3 credits at HTIC and then 6-9 language credits abroad depending on the student’s placement upon arrival at Hanyang University.

Before departing for Korea, students will be asked to select 6-9 credits from Asian studies courses such as: “Introduction to Eastern Art” (ART 180), “East Asian Civilizations” (HIST 209-10), “Civilizations of Asia” (HIST 241-242), “Introduction to the World’s Major Religions” (REL 150), or “Asian Traditions” (PHIL 102).

Students who successfully complete the Discover Korea Immersion Program receive nine credit hours for language study and a minimum of six credits in the Korea-related field. These fifteen credit hours apply to the total number of credits necessary for HTIC students to successfully complete their Associate in Arts degrees. Recruitment for the Discover Korea program is taking place now. Please contact Admissions for further information.