The inaugural AUT International Winter School program was held at Ajou University in Tashkent (AUT) for students on break over the winter. 

The program took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where AUT is located, from January 8 to 12. An opportunity for Ajou University students to experience foreign culture, the program brought students of Ajou University and AUT together for a bonding experience. Students who completed the program received one credit. 

Fifty-eight students from 16 departments at Ajou University, including the Department of Culture and Contents, the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy, and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, completed the program. The group of students was led by Kim Yong Hyun, Dean of the College of Humanities and Kim Jong Sik, Dean of the Division of International Studies. 

Over their five-day stay at AUT the students attended lectures on culture, took field trips to tourist sites, companies, and institutions, completed team assignments, and spent time with their AUT buddies. Such activities were planned in reflection of ideas submitted by the students who participated in the program. Fifteen AUT students accompanied the group of Ajou University students around Tashkent as “buddies.”

Among the assignments the students undertook as part of the program were to suggest ways to reduce irrigation loss in farming to address Uzbekistan’s water shortages, to suggest designs for center bus lanes on Tashkent roads using road and traffic examples in Korea to improve Tashkent's public transport system, and to engage in comparative analysis of the lifestyles of Koreans in Korea and ethnic Koreans in Uzbekistan. 

A hub for trade via the Silk Road in antiquity, the visiting student group had the opportunity to engage in a valuable experience with Tashkent’s Central Asian history and culture. The students visited a number of Korean entities operating in Uzbekistan such as KT, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, and the Korea International Cooperation Agency, as well as UNICEF, where they spent time interacting with staff to understand the organizations’ visions for Uzbekistan and the progress they have made. 

Jung Ga-young, a history major and one of the participating students, commented “The program and our AUT buddies gave us cool experiences in Uzbekistan,” and “What we learned in Uzbekistan will help us complete a team assignment to come up with ideas on ways to export Korean beauty and cosmetic products.”

The 2024 AUT International Winter School, organized by the AUT Business Group and International Exchanges Team, was a sibling to the 2023 Ajou International Summer School, which took place at Ajou University over two weeks the previous summer, bringing to Ajou University 26 students from sister universities around the world and 20 AUT students for Korean language training and tourism. 

Founded by Ajou University in February 2021, AUT offers both its own curriculum and curricula from Ajou University. Its next group of graduates will finish their programs this coming June. AUT currently has 1,516 students registered.

The Ajou University undergraduate programs available at AUT are in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Civil Systems Engineering, and Architecture. Conferred on AUT graduates of these disciplines is a degree issued by Ajou University. The undergraduate programs AUT offers independently are in Korean Philology and Management, English Philology and Management, and IT-Business. 

△ AUT International Winter School participants at Registan Square, Samarkand

△ Students participating in the AUT International Winter School experiencing local culture

△ Visit to the UNICEF office in Tashkent

△ AUT International Winter School completion ceremony

△ AUT International Winter School completion ceremony