Mr. An Hyeong-jin, Grade 1 Cerebral Palsy, Earns PhD in Social Welfare from Samyuk University

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Samyook University announced on the 23rd that Ahn Hyeong-jin (41), who was diagnosed with level 1 cerebral palsy, has earned a doctoral degree in social welfare.

Ahn is currently enrolled in the Graduate School of Social Welfare at Samyook University and obtained his Ph.D. in Social Welfare with a dissertation titled "A Critical Review of the Disability Activity Support System from the Perspective of Active Citizenship." It took seven and a half years since his admission. Majoring in English Literature as an undergraduate, Ahn has been active in disability student education rights movements through organizations such as the Korea Disabled People's International (Korea DPI) since his university days. After graduating from his undergraduate program, he worked at a Center for Independent Living for Persons with Disabilities, which naturally led to his interest in social welfare and his decision to pursue a doctoral program.

Despite difficulties in speaking and writing, Ahn participated in presentation classes using assistive devices that convert text to speech and continued his studies with the help of a note-taking assistant system provided by the university's Disability Student Support Center. The dissertation review was also conducted in writing instead of an interview.

His advisors unanimously described him as a serious and passionate student who studied diligently despite his disability. Professor Yoon Jae-young of the Department of Social Welfare said, "Because he is a person with a disability, he had a strong awareness of understanding disability issues from a social perspective. The fact that it took more than seven years to graduate was not only due to his disability but also because he aimed to use new methodologies and conduct in-depth research."

Ahn said, "I am grateful for the encouragement and support from many senior and junior disability activists who gave me strength, saying that overcoming challenges every time I wanted to give up is another form of disability activism. I will continue to live modestly and sincerely as I do now, and strive further through deep reflection and study."