Release date: Dec. 14, 2004
Contact: Elaine Justice at 404-727-0643 or elaine.justice@emory.edu

Emory's Theology School Strengthens Korean Connection

Emory University's Candler School of Theology is enhancing its longstanding connections to the Korean peninsula by embarking on a three-year program to strengthen its ties to schools there and expand services to Korean and Korean-American students on its Atlanta campus.

Funded by a $270,000 grant from The Henry Luce Foundation Inc., the program is increasing scholarship aid, adding Korean language resources to the Pitts Theology Library and enhancing English language instruction. It also provides funds for faculty mentoring of Korean students. Candler plans to use its own resources to bring Korean faculty to the Atlanta campus and send Candler faculty to teach in Korea.

James T. Laney, former ambassador to Korea, dean emeritus of Candler and president emeritus of Emory, finds it appropriate that the school continues to enhance its relationship with the church in Korea. "This is an important part of the world," says Laney. "We have long served in that area. Now that area is coming to us, especially to us in Georgia. Fresh initiatives in work with Korea and Koreans are only a recognition of how much we share and how great are the current opportunities."

"Emory has rich historical connections to Korea," says Russell E. Richey, dean of Candler. He points out that Emory's first Korean graduate was Yun Ch'i-ho, a member of the Emory College class of 1893.

Ch'i-ho learned of Emory while studying at the Anglo-Chinese College in Shanghai, China, a school founded by Young J. Allen, Emory class of 1858, who was the first Methodist missionary to China. In the 115 years since Ch'i-ho's time on campus, relations with the Methodist Church in Korea and with schools such as Yonsei University have blossomed. This fall 5 percent of all Candler's M.Div. students (20) and 41 percent of students in the master of theology program are Asian-Americans and native Asians.

The Rev. Cheol Ho Yoon, a native Korean who serves as the Korean minister of Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church in Alpharetta, Ga., holds two graduate degrees from Candler. He came to the school because of its international reputation as an outstanding seminary in the Methodist tradition. He notes the exceptional faculty and the opportunity to do serious work in Bible study and theology. Like Ch'i-ho 115 years ago, Yoon's decision to study at Candler was influenced by a teacher who recommended the school.

Yoon chose to stay in Georgia because of "the chance to serve the area's growing Korean population." Recognizing the particular difficulties faced by immigrant populations and their children, he says he gives thanks for "Candler's good teachers and for the campus experiences of diversity," which helped him "to see the world in a new way and to grow."

Hang Sun "Aimee" Kang was born in Korea but came to the United States as an infant. She claims Chicago and the New Jersey suburbs as home. Part of the post-immigration generation, she knows the tensions that arise between parents who want to maintain traditions and old ways and young people who want to push the limits of their experiences in a new country.

Kang hopes to pursue doctoral studies in theology when she graduates from Candler in 2005. She sees her work, in part, as helping Koreans and Korean-Americans as "they establish their identities in a complex and rapidly changing world." She says Candler's gifts to her include "professors and a community environment that helped push me out of my prejudices and assumptions."

Yoon and Kang recognize that Candler could and should be doing more to support its Korean and Korean-American students. Yoon calls for more opportunities to study practical theology in Korean settings around Atlanta. As an American-raised Korean, Kang hopes for more resources to help her understand Korean culture and the dynamics of the Korean church both here and on the Korean peninsula.

Dean Richey adds, "The grant will also provide Korean exposure for non-Korean students and faculty and strengthen relations with Korean language churches in the Atlanta area. Theological education increasingly recognizes comparative religious studies and interreligious perspectives as important dimensions of a school's globalization. In these areas Candler is already strong. This grant and our work following will broaden our vision, enlarge our Korean connections, honor our history and serve the church."

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For nearly two decades Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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