Duksung Women's University


Duksung Women's University is a private university in Seoul, South Korea founded in 1920.

History

The school was established in 1920, as part of the drive for improved education which arose out of the March 1st Movement. Its founder was Cha Mirisa , an educator and leader of the Joseon Women's Education Society. At the time it was known as the Geunhwa Academy. Because the name Geunhwa refers to the Korean national flower, it was changed to "Duksung" under pressure from Japanese authorities in 1938.
Duksung was officially founded as a college, on the site of the Unhyeongung palace, in 1950. During this same year, on May, 17 Duksung Woman's Junior College was established. As well as, the opening of a department of Korean literature and a department of domestic science. Dr. Song Geum-seon took the office as the 1st president of the school. It became a four-year college in 1952. In 1984, the main campus was moved to its present location in Dobong-gu. The college became a university in 1987.

Founder: Ms. Cha Mirisa

1880 - 1955, a feminist and educator.
Ms. Cha Mirisa, who was a devout Roman Catholic, organized 'Joseon Society for Women's Education' in 1920 with a view to providing educational opportunities to the women in Korea, lending a small chapel on 19 April of the year to start to run a night class to teach women. In October 1921, she established "Geunhwa Women's School" with the contributions collected from some lectures, assuming the office as a schoolmistress. She held lectures, musical concerts, plays, and bazaars to raise funds to maintain the school with no support from the Joseon Government-general or foreign missionaries.
In February 1934, she established a foundation named Geunhwa School, inaugurated as a chief director. She expanded and developed further "Geunhwa Woman's School" into "Geunhwa Woman's Vocational School." After this, due to the insistence of the Japanese imperialists that Geunhwa represents Korea's national flower of an althea, the name of the school was changed to "Duksung School."
As the nation restored its independency in 1945, she established a higher educational institution for woman - Duksung Woman's Junior College. Ms. Cha Mirisa was conferred posthumous honors as a Meritorious Person for National Independence in 2002, the year of 57th anniversary of the restoration of national independency.

School history

Convert into an academic school
At the undergraduate level, courses of study are provided through five colleges: Humanities, Natural Science, Pharmacy, Social Science, and Art and Design.
Specialized graduate courses are also offered.
Undergraduate
Graduates
Duksung University Graduate School was instituted in 1979. Male students enter the master's and doctorate programs. The master's and doctorate programs for university-research institute collaborative researches are in conjunction with the Korea Food & Drug Administration and Korea Food Research Institute.
The Graduate School was selected as an excellent university in the area of a graduate school, in the general university evaluation conducted by Korean Council for University Education.

Campus

The main campus is situated in Dobong-gu, a district of northern Seoul. It is close to both Bukhan Mountain and Dobong Mountain. The continuing education center is located at the former campus location, on the site of the Unhyeongung palace.
Ssangmundong Campus
Uni-dong Campus

Clubs and communities

Social Branch
Religious Branch
Life and Culture Branch
Performing Art Branch
Exhibition and Creation Branch

University Library

Located in the middle of the campus, the library has 1,589 seats, and holds over 460,000 oriental books, 90,000 western books and 6,848 types of periodicals and collected papers. The library has 100,000 pieces of media data, such as audio/ video materials, slides and CD-ROM. Through the Digital Library System, data searching and viewing full texts of web databases are possible on the library web-site. Data which are not in the collection of the library are provided from libraries in Korea and abroad. The library is pursuing a joint list and cross-loan service with private universities in the northeastern part of Seoul.

Fitness Center

Located in the Hana Nuri Gymnasium, which was newly built int February 2010, the Fitness Center is equipped with treadmills, cycles, steppers, weight training equipment, and aerobic workout equipment. There is also a running track. To manage students' health, the Fitness Center offers individual exercise training program and body composition measuring service

University Health Center

Open hours:
Single and double rooms are available in DWU's on-campus student residence. There is a lounge and kitchen per single unit occupied by 10 ~ 13 people. In the lounge and kitchen, a refrigerator, electric rice cooker, gas oven, dining table and cooking utensils are available to use. Other convenience facilities include a communal laundromat, TV room to watch TV and VTR, physical training room, reading room and Internet room for information search.

International Language Center

The International Language Center has a new building, dormitory facility, and research staff of master and doctorate degree professors majoring in English and Korean education, and foreign teaching faculty.

Facts