In the wake of the high-tech revolution, Korea University (KU) sets to arm its students with the intellectual resources required to thrive in the digitalized world. To do so, KU has established a new category of core general studies courses: Digital Innovation & Humanity. Aiming to deliver an integrated curriculum of the humanities and information technology (IT), this new domain of core general studies courses also indicates KU’s liberal and proactive approach to digital transformation.

Digital Innovation & Humanity is one of the eight categories of core general studies courses students can choose from. Students must complete at least two courses among these fields to graduate with a foundation in humanities and sciences. For the ongoing spring semester, students can select amongst 10 core general studies courses within Digital Innovation & Humanity.

Grounds and Implications

“In the coming society, graduates from any field not only need preparation for the era of data science but must also have humanities literacy,” remarks Sohn Joo-kyoung, Dean of the Institute for General Education, as reported by the KU Communications Team. By providing this timely curriculum, KU plans to foster intellectuals aligned with the needs of our future society. Likewise, the Institute of General Education, administrating developments within KU’s general studies courses and continuously seeks to provide relevant and updated education considering current intellectual trends.

A prevalent example of these efforts would be the revisions made for the required general course, Liberty, Justice, Truth II – or Ja-jung-jin, as referred to by KU students – for the fall semester of 2021. With many coining the updated version of the course New-jung-jin, Liberty, Justice, Truth II presented a new structure and assignments in tune with the cultural and political atmosphere of the time. With Liberty, Justice, Truth II being more science and IT centered than Liberty, Justice, Truth I, students are expected to formulate substantive resolutions rather than personal arguments on the issues introduced in class such as the potential dangers of big science and lack of privacy in a data-driven world.

Whereas Liberty, Justice, Truth is a prerequisite for any KU student, the addition of Digital Innovation & Humanity is not necessarily a required course for all KU students. Nonetheless, it has garnered much attention from different departments, with the Business School having already updated their curriculum, designating Digital Innovation & Humanity a requisite course. For the KU student body, the addition of Digital Innovation & Humanity would indicate a higher likelihood of successfully registering for any core general studies course. With this incorporation, there will be a total of 66 core general studies courses – 47 percent higher than the number of courses provided in the previous semester.

The Inner Curriculum

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Society & Ethics, IT and Social Norms, Virtual Reality and Culture, and Data Governance are just some of the courses newly constructed for Digital Innovation & Humanity. This spring semester will be the first run-through of these courses and will subsequently test whether the integrated curriculum will appeal to and stimulate KU students. Fortunately, it seems as though variety and flexibility play an influence within courses for Digital Innovation & Humanity, lending a sense of freedom for students to choose which lecture style and content are appropriate for them.

Despite all courses being online, there are not many more commonalities for courses within the new field, especially regarding the structure and curriculum. Whereas Hypertext & Computability alongside IT & Social Norms are lecture- based classes, Digital Governance and Future Mobility Technology are discussion-based courses, with the latter dedicating two full weeks to reviewing technology and debating amongst students.

Considering how courses within Digital Innovation & Humanity are set out to be courses that integrate the humanities and the sciences, the proportion of these two studies within the curriculum differs for each course. Digital Governance, although requiring students to understand the digital revolution and the technological changes it consists of, ultimately challenges students’ comprehension of public administration and policymaking. Data Science & AI, on the other hand, serves as an introduction to coding and algorithms, with four in-lab classes to provide hands-on experience with coding. These distinctions will likely assist more diverse groups of students to choose courses according to their current skills and interests.

“It is hard for students to realize how significant and immersed data science is in our day to day lives,” states Professor Shin Eun-kyung (Department of Sociology), upon discussing her course Data Science & AI. According to Professor Shin, the easiest aspect for opening a new course is not meticulous preparation but hoping students will be as intrigued about the course as she is. “The words Data Science and AI tend to drive humanities students away. This is interesting considering how interwoven the study of humanity is with technological developments, including data science and AI. I hope I can tear down this barrier and make these two words a more familiar concept to students beyond the sciences,” Professor Shin claims.

Another appealing feature of Digital Innovation & Humanity is the special lectures held within many of its courses. AI Society & Ethics, for example, has two special lectures in store for its students: the first on systematic hate surrounding North Korea defectors by Professor Lee Hyung-jong (Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University) and the second on persona AI by Professor Choi Jung-hoi, CEO of the AI chatbot SimSimi. Likewise, students enrolled in these courses will be able to converse with professionals of similar fields within the course.

KU’s expansion of its core general studies courses through the addition of Digital Innovation & Humanity represents KU’s vision to keep its students intact with the changing intellectual needs of society. Whether it be through diversifying core general studies courses or providing unique opportunities for its student body, KU’s academic engagement seems to be a step in the right direction. Hopefully, students will utilize this opportunity to align themselves with KU’s prospects for Digital Innovation & Humanity courses.