Sungshin Women's University

Infobox university
name = Sungshin Women’s University
native_name = _ko. 성신여자대학교


image_size = 135px
motto = _ko. 성신 誠信
지신 知新
자동 自動
Embrace sincerity and faith.
Strive for new knowledge.
Act independently.
established = April 28, 1936 (as Sungshin Educational Institute)
type = Private
president = Hwa Jin Shim
city = Seoul
country = South Korea
faculty = 251
staff = 131
students = 11,425
campus = Urban, 123,395 m²
website = [http://www.sungshin.ac.kr/ www.sungshin.ac.kr]

Sungshin Women's University is an all-women's private university in Seoul. Dr. Lee Sook Chong founded Sungshin Educational Institute in 1936. Sungshin Women’s Teacher's College was established in 1965 and it eventually became Sungshin Women’s University in Feb. 1982.

The university has 38 academic departments in 8 colleges, with 11,425 students and 382 faculty and staff members. Five graduate schools offer postgraduate degrees. Sungshin Women’s University is a part of the Sungshin Institute, which comprises schools covering all levels of education (K-12 and beyond).

History

Dr. Lee Sook Chong founded Sungshin Women's University as an outgrowth of its predecessor, Sungshin Girls' School, established on April 28, 1936. When Dr. Lee founded Sungshin Institute Korea was being ruled by Japan. In hopes of restoring Korean national spirit Dr. Lee decided to invest all her fortune to establish an educational institute based on the belief that only education would lead Koreans to independence.

Sungshin Girls' School was first opened with 60 students in the Catholic Memorial Building in Kyungwoon-dong, Seoul. As more students enrolled and more facilities were needed, the campus was relocated to its present site in Donam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (1942). The school was also reorganized as the Girls' School of Home Management at the time.

In November 1945, after the liberation of Korea, the school became Sungshin Girls' Middle School. Sungshin Women's Junior College was established in January 1946 with Dr. Lee appointed as the first President. In January 1965, Sungshin Women's Junior College was promoted to the status of a four-year college and was renamed Sungshin Women's Teachers College. There were four academic departments: Home Management Education, Art Education, Elementary Education, and Foreign Language Education.

Sungshin Elementary School, Sungshin Girls' Middle School, and Sungshin Girls' High School were established in 1965, 1967 and 1969, respectively, and new departments were added to the College. The Graduate School was established in 1972. In 1979, the status of the college was changed from a teachers' college to a liberal arts and sciences college (officially Sungshin Women’s College of Education). In December 1979, the Graduate School of Industrial Studies was established.

The college was promoted to Sungshin Women’s University in July, 1981 and five colleges were established (College of Humanities, College of Social Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, College of Education, and College of Arts). The university has steadily expanded since to have 11,425 students in eight colleges and five graduate schools today.

Academics

Colleges

Sungshin Women's University has 38 academic departments in 8 colleges.
*College of Humanities
*College of Social Sciences
*College of Natural Science
*College of Human Ecology
*College of Nursing
*College of Education
*College of Arts
*College of Music

Graduate Schools

The Graduate School at Sungshin Women’s University offers doctoral degree programs through 25 departments and master’s degrees in 36 majors. There are also four specialized graduate schools offering postgraduate programs.
* Graduate School
* Graduate School of Education
* Graduate School of Art and Design
* Graduate School of Cultural Industry
* Graduate School of Finance and Insurance

Research Institutes

Sungshin Women's University maintains and supports 16 active research institutes.
* Humanities Research Institute
* East Asia Research Center
* Korean Geographic Research Institute
* Basic Science Research Institute
* Educational Research Institute
* Life and Culture Research Institute
* Sungshin Institute of Economic Research
* The Research Center for Plastic Arts
* Business Administration Research Institute
* Psychological Health Institute
* Institute of Legal Studies
* Korean Women’s Research Institute
* Sungshin Design Center
* The Cultural Industry Research Center
* The Multimedia Research Institute
* The Research Institute of Sports & Nutritional Medicine

Campus

Sungshin Women's University is located near downtown Seoul, only a few stops away from major subway hubs.

The campus, with 19 buildings, sits snugly on a hill. After a rather steep climb past the main entrance, the slope flattens quite a bit and a view of several buildings standing tightly together appears. At the heart of the campus is Sungshin-gwan (Sungshin Hall), a state-of-the-art facility featuring offices and lecture halls equipped with the latest, cutting-edge technologies. Dedicated in 2006, the building is also known for the large neon display (of the school name) sitting on top of it.

The Sungshin campus is known for its ingenious use of limited space. Many of the buildings on campus are connected to one another by ramps and it can be fun figuring out the maze of corridors connecting different buildings. Lawn fields sits atop the gymnasium and the cafeteria building and bring color and freshness to the campus. Indoor parking lots are located below several campus buildings.

The university plans to build a second campus in the near future. The planned site is located a fifteen-minute drive away from the main campus.

University Facilities

The Central Library (Woonjung Hall) at Sungshin Women's University has a collection of 723,000 volumes including 600,000 Korean and other Asian language books, 100,000 English and other Western language books, and 23,000 academic journals. The library also offers a variety of electronic resources such as 30 academic databases and 4,000 e-journals. (Source: Sungshin Women's University Web Site)

The University Museum is located on the 3rd and 4th floors of the Administrative Building. There are three display rooms celebrating rich Korean cultural heritage through paintings, maps, drawings, ceramics, and ornaments. A fourth special room is dedicated to the memory of the founder Dr. Lee Sook Chong and showcases the early history of the university.

Nanhyang-Won, the university retreat center, is located off campus at the foot of a mountain (Mt. Dobong) in northern part of Seoul. Featuring a spacious garden and surrounded by a forest, Nanhyang-Won can accommodate up to 200 people at a time and is used by student organizations and faculty members for group outings promoting friendship and understanding.

ee also

* Sungshin Women's University Station

External links

* [http://www.sungshin.ac.kr University website (in Korean)]
* [http://www.sungshin.ac.kr/english.html University website (in English)]