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Head of Department: Assoc. Prof. Yana Mancheva, Ph.D.

 

The beginning of the Korean Studies Program can be traced back to 1992 when Korean language classes were offered for the first time at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. A few years later, in 1995, on the initiative of the late Prof. Dr. Habil. Alexander Fedotoff, Ph.D., Prof. Svetla Karteva, Ph.D., and Prof. Kwon Jin Choi, Ph.D. a Korean Studies Program was established at Sofia University. In the spring of 2010, with the decision of the Academic Council of Sofia University, Korean Studies Program was established as an independent Department.

The Department of Korean Studies offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral level. The curriculum includes both theoretical and practical disciplines. The training is tailored to the needs of the philological education and prepares specialists fluent in written and spoken Korean with an in-depth knowledge of the history, culture, and literature of the region while providing close specialization in the East Asian region in all its diversity. Graduates of the Korean Studies Program can find professional realization in various spheres of the cultural, economic, and social life of their home country or abroad.

During their studies, students have a chance to participate in the rich academic and cultural life of the program. The Program’s annual calendar includes a variety of events, such as numerous lectures, workshops, and conferences throughout the year, that provide students with the opportunity to acquire additional competencies and skills necessary for their professional realization.

Students with high academic achievements have the chance to conduct short-term and long-term specializations in the Republic of Korea as well as to participate in exchange programs at various universities in Europe.

 

Facilities

The Korean Studies Program is located in a separate wing in the building of the Center for Oriental Cultures and Languages. The Korean Studies Program also maintains a seminar library with a vast collection of several thousand volumes of scientific and fiction literature related to the field of Korean Studies.

 

MA Korean Society and Culture

The MA Program provides students with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the dynamically evolving social, political, and economic processes on the Korean Peninsula, as well as to gain research expertise in the East Asian region. Graduates of the Korean Society and Culture Program acquire a high level of Korean language skills, translation, and consulting skills, competencies in political science, history, cultural studies, sociology, economics, etc.

Doctoral Degree

The Korean Studies Program trains specialists at the doctoral level to participate in the academic process at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and in other secondary and higher educational institutions at home or abroad.

 

 

Academic Staff

The Department of Korean Studies employs eight full-time lecturers (four of whom are habilitated) and one guest lecturer from the Republic of Korea. Some courses are taught by part-time lecturers, including Korean Studies Ph.D. students.

 

Assoc. Prof. Yana Mancheva, Ph.D. – Head of the Department of Korean Studies and a graduate of the Korean Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Theory and history of culture from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She has trained at the Academy of Korean Studies, Republic of Korea, and Cité de la musique, France. She teaches numerous courses such as practical Korean language, “Sino-Korean characters”, “Modern Korean art and culture”, “Traditional Korean art and culture”, and “Religious and philosophical teachings in Korea”. She is an author of the monography The role of scholars in the cultural and political life of traditional Korea as well as an author of a textbook on Sino-Korean characters.

 

Professor Svetla Karteva-Dancheva, Ph.D. – former head of The Department of Korean Studies in the period 2010-2019 and current head of the MA program “Korean Society and Culture”. She defended her doctoral dissertation in comparative Altaic linguistics, and she is a professor of comparative Altaic and Korean literature and culture at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She teaches a variety of courses such as “Phonetics and Lexicology of the Korean Language”, “Introduction to Korean and Altaic Linguistics”, “Morphology of the Korean Language”, “Introduction to Translation Theory and Practice”, “Sociolinguistics”, “History and Culture of the Nomadic Peoples in Central Asia”, “Shamanism in Central Asia and Korea”, “Academic Writing”, “Cultural and historical ties between East and Central Asia”. She is an author of a large number of scientific papers, and textbooks, editor of collections, and leader of several international and national projects.

 

Assoc. Prof. Irina Sotirova, Ph.D. – a graduate of the Korean Studies Program and former head of The Department of Korean Studies in the period 2019-2023. She received her Ph.D. in Korean folklore from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and has specialized in several universities in Seoul, Republic of Korea. She teaches courses such as “Sino-Korean hieroglyphics”, “History of the Korean alphabet”, “Religious and philosophical teachings in Korea”, etc. She wrote the monograph The Myth of Tangun and Formation of the Korean national identity as well as an author of a textbook on Sino-Korean characters. She has translated the significant historical book Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms into Bulgarian.

 

Assoc. Prof. Yanitsa Ivanova, Ph.D. – A graduate of the Korean Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Literary Studies from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She has specialized at several universities in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, and Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang. She teaches practical Korean language, “Modern and contemporary Korean literature”, “Korean culture”, “Aspect of the methodology of teaching Korean language”. She is an author of the monograph The Process of Formation of Contemporary Korean Poetry and a translator of contemporary Korean literature.

 

Asst. Prof. Miroslava Zaburtova, Ph.D. – a graduate of the Korean Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Korean Culture from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She has trained in several universities in the Republic of Korea. She teaches practical Korean language, “Syntax of Korean Language”, “Spoken Korean Language”, “Multimedia and the Korean Language”, “Discussions and debates in Korean”, “Analysing mass media texts”, “Youth cultures”, “Food culture in Korea”. She is the author of the book Transformation of culinary taste in the Republic of Korea.

 

Asst. Professor Rayna Beneva, Ph.D. – A graduate of the Korean Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Theory and history of culture from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She has specialized at the Academy of Korean Studies in the Republic of Korea and Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang. She teaches practical Korean language, “Korea Area Studies”, “Korean ritual folklore”, “Ancient Korean history”, “Korean folk beliefs and shamanic traditions”, “Socio-political and cultural trends in the DPRK”, “History and culture of Vietnam”, “Ancient Korean history”.

 

Asst. Professor Svetoslava Peycheva-Pencheva, Ph.D. – a graduate of the Korean Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Korean literature, culture, and religion from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. Teaches practical Korean language, “Religious and philosophical teachings in Korea”.

 

Senior Researcher So Young Kim, Ph.D. – a guest-lecturer from the Republic of Korea since 2005. Before that, she worked as a part-time lecturer in the Korean Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Bulgarian language from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She teaches practical Korean language, “Translation in Practice”, “Korean culture”, “Traditional Korean music Samulnori”, “Korean operetta Pansori”, etc. She is an author of numerous Korean textbooks and a translator of Korean literature. She has also led several international projects.

 

Asst. Professor Irina Sholeva, Ph.D. - a graduate of the Korean Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language from Ewha Womans University. She teaches practical Korean language.

 

 

 

 

Lecturers