Professor Chung So-yi of the
Department of Religious Studies
Selected for the K-Academic Diffusion Research Institute Project
- Winning the largest research grant (KRW 5 billion) in the
field of Religious Studies at Sogang,
Production of educational video content to inform the world on Korean religious
culture -
Professor Chung So-yi’s research team from the Religious Studies Department (Dean: Pak Pyong-gwan, Director: Kim Jae-young) was selected in the ‘Philosophy and Religion’ project area of the “K-Academic Diffusion Research Institute Project” hosted by the Ministry of Education and the Korean Studies Promotion Service of the Academy of Korean Studies.
The K-Academic Diffusion Research Institute Project is a project that promotes global research and education on Korean studies by drawing in the attention of people all over the world who are interested in Korean pop culture, such as the popular Korean Wave, to broaden this interest to include the Korean academic world, as a whole. The purpose is to improve Korea’s international image and credibility by spreading Korean studies as a new form of educational content.
Professor Chung is to receive an annual research grant of KRW 1 billion for a total of five years (total KRW 5 billion) from July 1, 2021, to May 31, 2026, with the task of “Image, Participation, and Practice of K-Religion: Multimedia Lectures and Documentary Platform to Build an Independent Image of K-Religion,” which is meaningful in that this represents the largest research grant for the university in the field of religious studies.
This study starts from the specific material culture and image that contains the reality of each religion, such as Shamanism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Protestantism, Catholicism, and other new religions in Korea, and then conveys the achievements of the Korean religious academic communities that have studied each religious culture. Lectures are organized in the direction of asking questions that fit the realities of these religions.
The content will be produced step by step as multimedia video lectures and documentaries that bridge the gap between ‘the topics people outside of Korea want to know’ and ‘the topics that give knowledge to people in Korea.’
Professor Chung said, “If efforts toward ‘internationalization’ of Sogang University’s Religious Research Institute for the past 10 years have been made through the Journal of Korean Religions, an internationally renowned A&HCI-level English magazine, I am now convinced that the topic of innovation is ‘digital.’ It is expected that the global network will expand more quickly and effectively through the online video platform.” She then added, “In particular, I believe the religious digital video platform business in Korea creates synergistic effects in interdisciplinary research and convergence, leading to a new breakthrough in traditional humanities research.”
