Student Internships

Students from Incheon National University in South Korea listened to a lecture by Dr. Denis Dean, dean of EPPS, about Dallas and UT Dallas history and transformation during an internship program called “Experience Dallas as a future city: Technology, culture and governance.”

With lectures, visits to government offices and field trips to local destinations, a new internship program is teaching urban policy and architecture students from South Korea about how Dallas is building its future.

Ten juniors and seniors from Incheon National University in Incheon, South Korea, were the first group to visit UT Dallas as part of the 10-day internship, “Experience Dallas as a future city: Technology, culture and governance.”

Dr. Dohyeong Kim, associate professor of public policy, political economy and geospatial information sciences in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (EPPS), proposed the program when Incheon National University announced it wanted to provide an internship for undergraduate students. Kim designed the schedule and coordinated the programs with assistance from Soojin Min and Kwang Bin Bae, EPPS doctoral students. 

The concept of a future city reflects efforts by urban policymakers and planners to strengthen their cities’ competitiveness and ability to respond more effectively to future trends and needs, Kim said.

“We hope that students will be able to apply all the lessons from the internship to the cases of Korean cities, including the city of Incheon, and develop their careers as urban policy experts,” Kim said.

Dr. Dohyeong Kim

Dr. Dohyeong Kim

Incheon National University and UT Dallas are crafting an agreement to form a long-term partnership that will include annual internships and explore more collaborative opportunities.

Students visited police, fire and city hall offices as well as downtown Dallas, which allowed them to compare the city’s administration and attractions to those in Korea.

“We’ve been downtown three days. We’re really impressed with the culture, the Dallas Museum of Art and Klyde Warren Park. It’s really beautiful and it’s easy for people to access the culture,” said Hyoju Kim, one of the program’s interns.

Another intern, Boram Lee, who studies architecture engineering, said she especially liked the architecture of the Meyerson Symphony Center and the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House.

“I was really impressed with the buildings and how they could express different moods,” she said.

Jaemin Lee said he enjoyed seeing the open spaces in downtown Dallas, NorthPark Center’s CenterPark Garden and the UT Dallas campus. He said the green space is a contrast to what he’s used to in densely populated South Korea, which is one-seventh the size of Texas and has a population of more than 50 million.

“The UT Dallas campus is so beautiful,” Jaemin Lee said. “We don’t have many plants or trees on the Incheon University campus, so I envy you.”

In one of the sessions on campus, Dr. Denis Dean, dean of EPPS, spoke to the group about Dallas’ history and transformation from an economy dominated by the oil business to one that has diversified with industries such as technology and manufacturing.