Biden School Seoul Case Study Program

여러분 안녕하세요!

Welcome to the University of Delaware, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration, site for the Seoul Case Study Program (SCSP).  This website is actively under construction, so feel free to send suggestions and corrections. For a decade from 2010-2019, this course and study trip to Seoul, and the related work my students and I did before and after our week in Seoul, was something I always looked forward to and considered one of the best parts of my job. It gave us the opportunity to learn about cities in general, Seoul and the Republic of Korea specifically, and the comparative study of public policy and administration while enjoying delightful hospitality and the pleasures of spending a week in one of the world's great cities. I was devastated when the COVID-19 pandemic brought the program to a halt, and I can't thank enough the people at the University of Seoul and the Seoul Metropolitan Government for restarting this program, which we expect to be able to participate in every other year (i.e., 2024, 2026, and so on). 감사합니다! 

What it's all about? Who might be interested?

If you are interested in any of cities, urban policy, city management, and comparative public policy and public administration, this is for you. Previous participants have described it as a "life-changing experience" in which they learned (more) about all of those topics while experiencing the deep historical roots and vibrant cultural life of one of the world's great cities, including K-Pop and other facets of Hallyu, the Korean Wave as well as traditional Korean arts, science, and cuisine.

The associated UD course, usually listed as UAPP730-070 (1-3 credits), is a case study of Seoul, the capital city of the Republic of Korea (ROK), both as an intriguing megacity in itself and as an example of contemporary urban governance, policy, and management. We examine the motivation, design, and management of urban policies and services in Seoul and in comparative context. Topics include the global and national context for Seoul's policy, management, and service-delivery efforts; the design, implementation, and evaluation of governance reforms and policy innovations generally; and specific policy subareas of urban governance including but not limited to urban planning and design, transportation, public health, health care delivery, education, infrastructure planning and management, social services, housing, public finance, e-governance, and economic development. 

The course includes an intensive fieldwork component sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and the International School of Urban Sciences (ISUS) of the University of Seoul (UOS). For the fall 2024 offering, travel dates were October 18-27, 2024. We did the fieldwork together with participating graduate students and faculty from Cornell University and the University of Georgia.

Here is a slideshow put together by the students who participated in October 2024, and here is a story on the Biden School website. You will also find on this page a two-page overview of the course and program, a sample syllabus, and reports about the program from past participants. Other pages on the site  provide general information about Seoul and Korea, news and events links, information for visitors, some links and files to help with initial research, and course materials for registered students. (Some links require UD login). 

(And if you need a laugh at my expense, you can view my short Korean-School videos about the SCSP (2020), my love of gul bossam (2022), and the annual Seoul Silver Grass Festival (2022). I think my pronunciation and grasp of toddler-level grammar have improved over the last five years, but I can't retain vocabulary, and no actual human speaks Korean slowly enough for me understand what they're saying. Sigh. But I'll put in a plug here for the Delaware Korean School, which is great fun to attend and is not to be blamed for my linguistic ineptitude.)