Consortium Formed with Incheon National University, Sogang University, Daegu University, and Sangji University in the Field of "Inclusive Society"
Presenting an Innovative Model for Community Restoration and Implementation of Inclusive Policies in a Multi-layered Era of Conflict
Pukyong National University (President Bae Sanghoon) has been selected as a consortium partner university in the Inclusive Society field for the Ministry of Education and National Research Foundation's "2025 Humanities and Social Sciences Convergence Talent Development Project (HUSS)."
The Humanities and Social Sciences Convergence Talent Development Project is a program that supports the cultivation of convergence-type talent based on the humanities and social sciences by breaking down boundaries between departments within universities and between different universities.
Since 2023, a new consortium has been selected each year focusing on new fields, resulting in the selection of consortia in eight fields so far. This year, two new fields?Inclusive Society and Digital Economy?have been added.
Pukyong National University, together with Incheon National University (the lead university) and partner universities Sogang University, Daegu University, and Sangji University, has formed a regional alliance consortium in the Inclusive Society field. With the vision of "Cultivating cultural mediation convergence talent to lead inclusive society and community regeneration in a multi-layered era of conflict," the consortium will carry out the project. The funding for this project is 8.7 billion KRW over three years.
This consortium has drawn attention by introducing, for the first time in Korea, an academic model called the "network-type alliance independent department." This model establishes a "Department of Inclusive Society Convergence" at each university, which is jointly operated as a single alliance department. In particular, the "Introduction to Inclusive Society" course will be conducted through a team-teaching method involving faculty from all participating universities.
In addition, the consortium will run an extracurricular program called the "Credi-T Inquiry Community," providing students with competency-based, customized learning experiences. Through a capstone festival and annual academic events, achievements will be shared both within and outside the consortium, and practical connections with local communities and industries will be further strengthened.
In the first year, the consortium will focus on institutional improvement and establishing the educational curriculum foundation. In the second year, it will implement the Department of Inclusive Society Convergence and operate a joint curriculum. In the third year, it will actively promote undergraduate-master’s linkage and the dissemination of achievements. The goal is to nurture 600 convergence-type inclusive society specialists in the first year and 2,900 by the third year.
Pukyong National University, in particular, will focus on training "conflict coordinators" and fostering an inclusive society graduate school. Conflict coordinators are convergence-type professionals capable of addressing various modern societal issues?such as low birth rates, aging populations, regional alienation, and migration?through legal, policy, and digital solutions.
Professor Cho Sehyun (Department of History), head of the Pukyong National University project group, stated, "This project began as a collaboration among four departments?History, Social Welfare, Political Science and International Relations, and Early Childhood Education. Its significance lies in proposing a practical convergence education model that goes beyond simple academic integration to address complex conflicts and disparities in real social settings."
Pukyong National University Daeyeon Campus.
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