The 6th Sookmyung Creative-Convergence Essay Contest received applications from May 23 to May 30 at 3 p.m. The contest is hosted by Sookmyung's College of General Education. This year's theme is 'Metaverse and the Future.' Metaverse which is trending right now is a technology related to the virtual world based on non-face-to-face connections. 'Metaverse' is a combination of 'meta', which means over and 'universe', which means the real world. To guide the theme of this contest, the organizers said that "We expect students to move away from rigid thinking frames and creatively explore 'metaverse and our future'. The dichotomous idea that the simple conclusion that the metaverse will create a world of utopia or dystopia is not what we want." For example, when assuming the relationship between the metaverse and gender issues, the conclusion that the metaverse will reproduce gender discrimination or vice cersa is not what they want. Rather, it can be expected that the metaverse will affect existing gender conflicts, and the problem consciousness of paying attention to how to fundamentally change gender roles can be productive. As such, the purpose of this essay competition is to find the changes in our lives that the metaverse will bring and describe the specific aspects or explore their meaning. Any undergraduate student within eight semesters of SMWU can apply, and individual participants can also participate. Final winners will be selected through a preliminary- and final-round process. For the preliminary round, an essay of 30 sheets of squared manuscript paper (± 5) must be submitted. The content should include discovering new problems that people haven't thought about yet, and new perspectives that allow them to define problems. If you are selected as a finalist, it is recommended to put aside some time because you must submit a video. The application period is seven days, and a gifticon worth 5,000 won will be presented to the first 100 participants. Detailed writing methods and submission forms are set, so it's recommended to check the SNOWAY notice and the attached file.
