The General Education Institute (GEI) of SMU organized a Sookmyung Humanities Festival from the 27th of October to the 17th of November. For the purpose of cultivating a wider range of knowledge in the humanities, the GEI co-hosted eleven events with the nine departments in the School of Humanities. “By providing SMU students the chance to obtain a variety of experiences in different liberal arts areas, we hope that these events will help in enhancing their humanistic competence,” says staff member, Kim Huijung, of the GEI. The types of events that were held were diverse. Many included viewing plays, movies and exhibitions of different countries. The Department of French Language & Culture hosted the most popular event, according to the GEI, where five very talented actors recited a modern French play and took the time to discuss the literary work with the audience. Around 1,300 to 1,400 people participated in the overall festival. Kim from the GEI stated “What was lacking from this festival was the participation of the College of Natural Sciences. If there is another chance, we hope to plan events that can arouse the interest of students in the science department as well.” The Sookmyung Humanities Festival is a part of the University Education Competence Reinforcement Project, under the classification of expansion of humanities knowledge. Therefore many of the events were funded for generously, which allowed SMU to offer cultural experiences of high quality.
