By Seul Lee, Student Reporter
Photo by Dongjin Lee, Student Editor/Photographer

To sidestep is to avoid or evade a problem. Cognitive skills including critical thinking and problem solving skills were reviewed as part of the framework of the 21st Century Skills by the BIE (Buck Institute for Education). Also, many researches and books are about the art of complex problem solving. While “complex problem solving” is in style, the College of Policy Sciences, which was newly founded in 2009, is where you want to go if you wish to become a performer of sidestepping, to make molehills, or even no hills, out of mountains of problems that exist on every level of human life.

The special PPEL course, which offers advanced studies of Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law, is designed to provide students with new, creative and complex methods to approach both academic studies and the real world. Studying Philosophy, students will develop the ability to reason and criticize logically. With Politics, they will gain a profound comprehension on the impact of politics, how to examine and evaluate, and even develop it for the better. By learning about Economics, students will understand the overall workings of the economy, and become capable of applying it to economic conducts in real life. Studying Law, they will form an appreciation of how these systems of rules shape every part of the world we live in.

When students have completed this integrated course of studies, they are bound to become intellectuals with incorporated knowledge, which will entitle them to complex problemsolving skills. Students will graduate with the ability to identify complex problems, research and analyze related information, and bring alternative answers and solutions to the table. We can all hope that one day this College, which shows great prospects, will truly become the College to perform sidestepping for not only Korean society but international society.

jacksanne@hanyagn.ac.kr

A Conversation with the Head of the College:

Professor Tae-Je Cho

By Seul Lee, Student Reporter

Photo by Dongjin Lee, Student Editor/Photographer

To find out more about HYU’s College of Policy Sciences, we met with the Head of the College of Policy, Professor Tae-Je Cho.

Q. Would you explain how this College was founded?

A. It was the year 2009, when HYU decided to upgrade the former Division of Law, into a Law School. As this transformation took place, 175 openings from the entrance quota were left vacant. Instead of distributing this number to the existing colleges, schools and divisions, the College of Policy Sciences was established, to take the 175 in, and train them to become professionals to deal with future issues, which are apt to be more sophisticated, complex, and intertwined. Since then, as the first College of Policy Sciences in all of Korea, this College is maintaining its position as at the top.

Q. What do students study in the College of Policy Sciences?

A. This College takes the Oxford University’s PPE course (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) as a model for the program and the curriculum. The course we teach is the PPEL course. There are two main factors that differentiate this course from Oxford University’s PPE course. Firstly, the PPEL course not only includes Philosophy, Politics and Economics, but adds the study of Law. Secondly, Iolitics as it is taught in this College stresses the importance of the Science of Public, and teaches it as part of Politics. All of the classes and studies are carefully planned around, and gives students a fused view via Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law.

Q. What future paths can students take after completing their studies in this College?

A. As no class has yet taken their first step as graduates, I cannot give a definite answer. However, this College is much interested in the students’ interests and future goals, and tries to help them find their paths, by constant surveys and paying close attention. According to the surveys done among students, approximately 60% of them wanted to continue their studies specializing in Law. The second largest group of students replied that they would move on as professionals in civil service and public administration. Others showed interests in continuing their professional careers in various fields, using the fused-complex problem solving skills they learn in this College.

Q. How do you plan to maintain the College’s ranking as “top”?

A. There is endless effort to develop the study courses and programs, aiming for higher quality of education. Also, the College is searching for faculty members who not only do extraordinary research and have extensive teaching experience but who have love and passion for teaching and students. The College of Policy Sciences also endeavors to raise the confidence, morale and passion of the students through various events and programs.

Q. Would you like to give a comment for the students?

A. You are the first students of the first College of Policy Sciences in Korea. I hope you all achieve your future goals by studying with humility and passion. Like I said before, there is one particular thing I want to hear from you all; the sound of you turning the pages of books, studying with passion. Such gumption will take you far in your futures.

Professor Cho Tae-Je teaches administrative law at the School of Law and the College of Policy Sciences of Hanyang University. Before joining Hanyang University in 2000, he had been in the Department of Law and Politics, Kwangdong University. From 1994 to 1995 he studied at Wuerzburg University in Germany. He received a B.A. in Law (1982), an M.A. in Law (1972) and a Ph.D. in Law (1993) from Hanyang University.

jacksanne@hanyagn.ac.kr

http://www.hanyang.ac.kr/code_html/H3IA/introEng/index.html

<영문 인터넷 한양>

한양대학교 한양대학교 정책학과

커뮤니티 POLICY DEPARTMENT

학과소식

A Conversation with the Head of the College:

Professor Tae-Je Cho