Department of Korean Studies at Ruhr-University Bochum
The Department of Korean Studies at Ruhr-University Bochum is Germany's oldest university institute dedicated to research on Korea and can nowadays be regarded as one of the centers of Korean Studies in Europe. It is one of seven departments of about equal size which together form the Faculty of East Asian Studies at RUB. Hence, the department profits from and enriches the neighboring research and teaching fields such as Chinese History and Philosophy, Chinese Languages and Literatures, Japanese History, Japanese Language and Literature, Politics of East Asia, and Economics of East Asia.
The Korean Studies Program at RUB is geared towards a broad scope of subject matters, encompassing a large variety of topics related to history, literature, and religion (also in cooperation with the Department of East Asian Religions in the Center for Religious Studies, CERES). A notable emphasis is placed on understanding modern Korea in its historical and regional dimension – given the country's multifaceted cultural and political ties in the region. Focal points of research at the department are traditional and modern Korean literature, as well as Korean intellectual history.
Additionally, the faculty library contains one of the largest and most up-to-date university collections of East Asia-related literature in Germany.
Brief History
The Korean Language Program at RUB was founded by Professor Dr. Bruno Lewin in 1965. Professor Dr. Werner Sasse, who had worked as a research and teaching assistant (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) in charge of the Korean Studies Program from 1975 to 1989, was appointed chair of the Department of Korean Studies in 1989. From 1999 on, Professor Dr. Marion Eggert has served as department chair.