Eleven years ago, Sung Deuk-Oak found it strange to write an
academic paper by starting with his thesis.
The foreign notion of presenting one’s ideas at the
beginning, rather than subtly suggesting them at the end has
required some adjustment.
In these principles of paper structure, Oak finds the perfect
metaphor for differences between America and his native country,
Korea.
“Here, you must put your own idea first,” he said.
“But in Korea, it is very polite, face-keeping. It is hard to
raise your own idea.”
When Oak first came to America in 1993 as a student of theology,
he could not bring himself to raise his hand in class.
“When you want to become a scholar in Korea, you have to
follow your teacher’s ideas first ““ you can raise your
own ideas after they retire or die,” he said.
But as a visiting professor at UCLA, Oak has since overcome that
cultural barrier.
Visiting international professors and scholars like Oak add a
valuable perspective to the subjects they teach, seemingly
shortening the distance between Westwood and the rest of the world.
But they are becoming increasingly rare at UCLA.
“Visiting professors would be a fairly low priority under
conditions of budget tightness,” said Mike Lofchie, chair of
the political science department. “It’s not as urgent a
priority as having funds for your graduate program or hiring
lecturers to teach undergraduate courses.”
As a visiting professor in the UCLA Center for Korean Studies,
Oak lectures on Korean Christianity to a class enrolled nearly to
capacity.
“(The students) are very interested in their spiritual
roots and cultural identity,” he said. “They want to
know Korean Christianity and to understand the background of their
parents.”
Many departments, particularly those in the humanities, are
facing limitations on inviting visiting scholars from overseas due
to lack of funding.
“(Visiting professors) are just a luxury most departments
feel they can’t afford any longer unless it’s funded by
an outside source,” Lofchie added.
The logistical and legal hurdles of entry into the United States
have also become more difficult after Sept. 11, 2001.
“The process for them to come here is very cumbersome now
and very inconvenient,” said Lokubanda Tillakaratne, a
student affairs assistant in the Office of International Students
and Scholars. “There is a general across the board
unhappiness about coming here at all because of all the hassle they
have to go through getting visas.”
Tillakaratne calls this hassle “one of the worst public
relations disasters for the United States,” because countries
like England or Australia, which are not barred by mountains of
paperwork, become more appealing to busy academics.
Tillakaratne’s office serves as the liaison between the
academic department and the scholar, and organizes the necessary
paperwork for visas and travel.
UCLA faculty members can approach the department chair about
their wishes to collaborate with someone overseas, or a scholar in
another country can propose a temporary visit to UCLA for research
purposes.
When arrangements are successful, international professors can
act as a direct bridge between “here” and
“there.”
“Visiting professors bring their own experience ““
the direct experience of what’s going on there. They can
enrich academic discussions here,” Oak said. “Visiting
scholars have lived there, grown there; they know the topics
directly, personally.
Intellectual exchange
The scholars themselves also learn many things about U.S.
culture. The exchange can dissipate stereotypes and prejudices.
“I had reservations about coming to the U.S.,” said
Austin Harrington, a sociology lecturer at the University of Leeds
in England. “I was bracing myself for just Burger
Kings.”
Harrington, studying and teaching at UCLA through the
International Institute’s Global Fellows Program this year,
has since discovered Whole Foods.
The organic food market is among many other American findings
Harrington has made since his arrival at the beginning of this
quarter.
“It’s not this completely inward-looking American
place that I thought it might be,” he said. “Now I
understand the attraction of the American university
system.”
He is one of a class of seven global fellows, early-career
scholars selected to come to UCLA for their research interests in
global economy.
The program is currently in its second year, but a steadier
source of funding will have to be obtained if it is to be
sustainable for many more years, said the program’s director,
Ronald Rogowski.
Fellows share adjacent offices on the top floor of Bunche Hall,
provided with a view of the campus that Harrington finds
breathtaking.
“I’ve found the university such a universe in
itself,” he said. “I love the working conditions
here.”
Every Thursday, the fellows have a meeting over lunch to discuss
their research ““ an event that frequently turns into what
Rogowski calls “intellectual tennis.”
“They do a lot of talking to each other and we hope for a
sort of cross- fertilization of ideas,” Rogowski said.
Harrington said his experience thus far has allowed him to
reflect upon making his career in the United States, something he
had never really considered before. Before the Global Fellows
Program, he completed post-doctoral fellowships in Vienna, Florence
and Berlin.
“In a globalized world, one can’t just stick around
in one country,” he said. “I don’t know how
anyone can conduct research without comparing what they’re
doing to other people in other countries. Exposure to a lot of
international traditions enriches one’s
perspective.”
Many researchers also want to come to the United States in order
to be part of a larger intellectual community.
“A problem with research in many countries is that
they’re out of the mainstream for what’s going on in
the field,” said Charles Taylor, a professor of ecology and
evolutionary biology.
“It doesn’t mean the researchers aren’t good;
it just means they aren’t in daily communication with the
leaders in the field. They’re not seeing where the field is
going; they’re seeing where the field has been,” Taylor
said.
Taylor has collaborated with researchers from Japan, Africa and
most recently, Mexico.
Unlike the humanities, scholars in the biological and physical
sciences can frequently be funded by grants from the National
Institutes of Health or other science foundations.
Oak is hoping to raise funds among churches in Seoul in order to
create a permanent position for a professor of Korean Christianity
at UCLA, a task with a price tag of $1 million to $2 million.
Bridging cultures and countries
There are 3,000 Korean Americans at UCLA, and about 70 percent
of them are Christian, said Oak, who is also ordained as a
minister.
In Los Angeles, there are over 1,500 Korean American churches,
with an average congregation size of 100.
“I try to be a bridge between the center and Korean
American churches in Los Angeles and other cities,” he said.
“As a scholar, as a minister, I feel grave responsibility to
teach Korean Christianity to the younger generation.”
The rapid growth of Korean Christians both in America and in
Korea attracted Oak to the subject in the 1980s. He was at first
critical of the Christian churches in Korea, as they tried to
expand too rapidly without paying attention to internal problems
and corruption.
After the Korean War, many religious documents and buildings
were destroyed. Oak brought his wife and three children to America
to study the artifacts preserved by Western missionaries.
The culture shock was also jarring for his children, as his
eldest daughter barely spoke during her first four months of
American elementary school.
But his children were quick to overcome the language
barrier.
“Their English is better than native Americans,” he
said with pride of his two daughters and one son. “They have
no accent ““ they are very good.”
Although his family has adjusted to American culture, and fallen
in love with the California weather, Oak still struggles with the
dilemma to return to Korea.
His academic colleagues tell him his work is needed here to
establish Korean Christianity as a more prominent aspect of Korean
Studies. But church leaders in Korea are pressuring for his
return.
“If I remain here, I can criticize the Korean churches,
but if I return to Korea, I have to keep silent,” he said.
“As a scholar, I cannot accept that situation.”
Oak has found his work at UCLA intellectually stimulating, and
the reception welcoming.
But the university is a little short on the resources allotted
to international scholars, he said.
His office in Bunche Hall remains a testament to the rapidity at
which international occupants have come and gone. None of the
decorations on the walls and shelves are Oak’s ““ there
are wall hangings and shadow puppets from China and landscape
paintings from Japan.
He does not have a direct campus phone line, and had to bring
his own printer. His computer runs on an outdated version of
Windows 98.
Oak gestures next door to an office that is shared by eight
international scholars.
“They are renowned professors in their own country, but
international (scholars) do not have such big power here,” he
said. “Visiting scholars deserve better treatment and better
rooms.”
Because of the crammed spaces and minimal furnishings, visiting
scholars do not attend many conferences or colloquia on the UCLA
campus.
“They can contribute to UCLA, but when they find this
(lack) of support, they spend their time at home,” Oak said.
“They feel UCLA does not welcome them.”
But Oak says he can’t complain. At UCLA, he has had the
chance to interact with classrooms of students eager to learn, and
in America, he has learned to put his ideas first.