My Fulbright Experience in Seoul, South Korea during a Global Pandemic

By: Susan Badger Booth, Professor of Arts Management, School of Communication, Media, and Theatre Arts

Ambiguity, uncertainty, and doubt are all feelings I try to avoid, yet the ability to manage ambiguity is one of those talents that continues to make the list of top skills employers are looking for in new hires. Creating ambiguous and uncertain challenges for my students in my classes introduces these situations in a safe and supportive environment. The COVID19 pandemic has forced us to pivot toward a mode of managing great uncertainty in fast-changing times. As I arrived in Seoul on February 14, 2020 to begin my Fulbright semester, feelings of uncertainty and ambiguity were top of mind. Plans for my semester included both teaching (at Hongik University) and research. I would be teaching an entry level class to undergraduate students in Arts Management and a graduate level class in Cultural Planning. My graduate students and I planned to conduct focus groups in collaboration with a local cultural organization. Yet, it didn’t take long for me to realize that I would need to embrace change if my semester was going to be successful.

Fortunately, Korea was managing this public health crisis brilliantly, as they had already been tested by the earlier SARS epidemic and they have a well-developed national healthcare program in place. Soon Korean universities (including mine) would delay the semester start (originally March 1) by two weeks, and classes were moving online for at least 2 weeks before meeting face-to-face. As was happening at Eastern, we stumbled through the first few weeks, but figured out how to deliver content and share knowledge with our students from the eerily quiet classrooms we created in our kitchens and guest rooms. Two weeks online would turn to 4 weeks and eventually the whole semester would be delivered on-line.

Then on March 19 I received a message from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announcing that the U.S. Fulbright Program would be suspended worldwide, effective immediately, urging all U.S. Fulbright grantees to return home. My grant status had been moved from Fulbright Scholar to Fulbright Alumni overnight; I had until April 13 to return to the US. This was the first in a series of honest yet confusing communications from the Fulbright Office in Washington, D.C. Richly ambiguous and filled with doubt, my situation would change daily for the next week or so. It was only through the patience and fortitude of the local Korean Fulbright Office, the leadership of their board and staff, and their drive to turn outward and focus on the needs of their grantees that the program was able to allow a number of us to stay in Korea.

The EMU administration was equally supportive as I moved my Fulbright Grant to an International Visiting Professor position. Hongik University graciously accepted me in this new role with the same responsibilities. The Korean Fulbright Program showed great transparency and candor as they negotiated dozens of individual and unique situations with each grantee. They helped us with additional health insurance, return transportation, and even housing. They were exemplary at managing change and ambiguity and it is only because of their actions that I was able to continue to teach and work with my Korean colleagues.

Unlike other parts of the world, Korea never moved into lock-down as you experienced here in the US. Instead, everyone was required to wear masks (provided by the government), and a highly developed track-and-trace system was used. Restaurants and many businesses stayed open. Unfortunately, theatres, orchestras and museums were closed for much of my semester. I was not able to conduct in-person focus groups with my graduate students, but instead enlisted my international students from my undergraduate class as our research subjects. In addition, students in the undergraduate class curated an on-line gallery show of Hongik Student Artists as their capstone project. As the Korean university is very focused on the traditional teach and test model, this applied learning style was challenging for students. I was impressed at how determined they were to create final products in both classes that were worthy of their time and effort. The fact that all of this was completed in a second language and in an online format they were not used to was additionally impressive.

This experience led me to question how I teach managing uncertainty to my students, as I often will intentionally create open ended scenarios heavy with uncertainty for my students to consider. Could sharing my own doubts, and offering them as working models for my students, be another method to help my students become more comfortable with uncertainty? Living through uncertain moments reminds us of our capacity for both resilience and empathy. Managing ambiguity may cause doubt, but with tolerance and acceptance we can cope with change and take a step toward renewal.

Although not what I had planned for a semester abroad, I created lasting friendships with my colleagues at Hongik, many of my students, and my fellow Fulbright cohort. The Korean Fulbright office continued to provide us with monthly professional development workshops – even after our status moved to “alumni”. Yes, I even met Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary General of the United Nations! I am already creating plans to return to Hongik and continue building on relationships kindled by my Fulbright semester.