Dream Together Master students experience the PyeongChang Winter Olympics preparation process

Ever since Korea hosted its first Olympics, the nation obtained various medals and ranked highly in a number of international sporting events. As a host of various international sporting events, such as the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics, South Korea is familiar with the meticulous process that takes place when planning an international sporting event.

Such knowledge and experience is now being generated through the Dream Together Master Program, a graduate program that strives to educate future global leaders in sport management at Seoul National University (SNU).

Seoul National University’s Dream Together Master Program is an ambitious national project funded by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST) and the sports organization Korea Foundation for the Next Generation Sports Talent (NEST). Launched in 2013, the master program has an impressive faculty, with distinguished experts and professors coming from various countries, such as the USA, UK, Switzerland, France and Korea.

The Dream Together Program’s courses are all taught in English

The Dream Together Master Program is taught in English and prior knowledge of Korean is not required. The master program is a two-year 36-credit program consisting of ten themes with three modules in each theme. Some examples of the themes are sport humanities, sport event management, sport marketing and sponsorship, and sport law and arbitration. In addition to the ten themes, there are two consulting projects: one team project and an individual project for the thesis.

The master program focuses on participatory teaching methods, with diverse forms such as debate, simulation, role-play and case studies being employed to enhance problem-solving abilities. Students also engage in extracurricular activities, with sport field tours where students can see the sport venues used during the 1988 Summer Olympics, the World Cup and more. In addition, this winter students were able to experience the preparations for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The Dream Together Master Program is a way of expressing gratitude from the Korean government for the benefits the country received from the international community which aided in the rapid development of the nation. The program seeks to educate next generation sport administrators specifically from countries where sport is underdeveloped. Students come from diverse areas of the world, such as Togo, Sri Lanka, Lesotho, Ecuador and Pakistan. All accepted international students receive full scholarships which include the tuition fee for the two years of the program, flight tickets, dormitory fees, living expenses and insurance.

Professor KANG Joon-ho, first Director of the Dream Together Master Program, expressed his views on the program. “Rather than building sports facilities or donating sporting items, cultivating human resources is a more sustainable, effective and less costly influence. Our Dream Together Master Program has as its objective to aid in advancing underdeveloped nations through international sport development. The program has garnered much attention from the international community, especially from the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations.”

Professor Kang continued by stating his views on the importance of sports in society. “The psychological, physical and social effects of sports are astounding. The human capital of society can be strengthened. In addition, social capital is constructed by the values brought by engaging in teamwork and learning to abide to the rules of sport.”

For more information on Seoul National University’s Dream Together Master Program, please visit the official website: http://gsm.snu.ac.kr/DTM/ or the official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SNUDTM

Written by OH Jung Eun, SNU English Editor, josefinaoh@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr