ECU college succeeds with interdisciplinary study abroad
- ECU’s College of Fine Arts & Communication launched the university’s first college-level interdisciplinary study abroad program, bringing art, communication and theatre students to South Korea.
- Students combined discipline-specific coursework with shared cultural experiences, including university partnerships, performances, museums and industry visits.
- Participants said the trip broadened career perspectives, inspired creative work and strengthened connections across academic programs.
This summer’s interdisciplinary study abroad trip to South Korea wasn’t East Carolina University senior Olivia Donegain’s first rodeo.
When School of Theatre and Dance (SOTD) professor John Carlson led a study abroad group in 2024, she jumped at the chance to explore the love of K-pop, K-dramas and Korean skin care she’s had since middle school.
“The reason I decided to go again was because I fell in love with Korea the first time I visited,” said Donegain, a musical theatre major with a concentration in theatre education and minor in communication. “Once I heard that it was a combined program trip, I was excited to meet new people outside of my major, as well as getting to know some of the people who are in SOTD that I never had the chance to get to know.”
When College of Fine Arts and Communication (CFAC) leaders discussed potential study abroad opportunities for 2026, three faculty members proposed Korea trips. In response, the college created its first — and ECU’s first — college-level, interdisciplinary study abroad trip to any location: “Immersion in Korea’s Cultural, Media, and Artistic Landscape.” Graduate and undergraduate students and faculty from the Schools of Art and Design, Communication, and Theatre and Dance spent about two weeks in late May in Seoul and Jeju-si, South Korea.
Faculty from each school attended with their students, including art professor Mi-Sook Hur and communication professor Dr. Jin-Ae Kang, who have Korean backgrounds. Hur spent the 2024-25 academic year in South Korea, pursuing research in enameling with a Fulbright grant.
CFAC Dean Linda Kean hopes to add a School of Music component and continue the South Korea interdisciplinary trip every other summer, alternating with a similar trip to Poland. The Poland trip is in the planning stages for summer 2027.
“Every time I see students get together with other people in the college, their excitement rises, and they all love talking to each other and tend to have interests that cross schools,” Kean said. “There are careers we see that are interdisciplinary; just learning about what else is out there is important.”
Carlson, who has a decade of experience traveling to South Korea, said CFAC’s interdisciplinary trip worked well, especially with the format of meeting as a full group at the start, splitting up for individual school activities and coming together again as a full group.
“Whatever bonding had happened was really starting to solidify” when the group came back together, Carlson said. “To experience a combination of our disciplines made the students get that much more out of it; that common experience of going to a production where there’s art and design, and the communication that has to go into it, or when we went to a lecture on Jeju Island and there was a combined activity the students had to do.”
One of Zoe Washburn’s favorite days was when the entire group traveled to the Gotjawal Forest on Jeju Island. The Bachelor of Fine Arts senior has an emphasis in ceramics and is working on a certificate in entrepreneurship.
CFAC in the Big Apple
College of Fine Arts and Communication Dean Linda Kean met with Sarah Evans ’01, a partner at global communications agency J/PR.
The application is open for another interdisciplinary student opportunity in the College of Fine Arts and Communication (CFAC).
College leaders will travel with students from all four schools — up to six from each — to New York City for an alternative spring break experience March 7-12, 2027.
CFAC representatives traveled to the city last spring break and have spent additional time building relationships with East Carolina University alumni, and some will host the group and share their career pathways in creative industries.
Participating students will visit J Public Relations, founded by communication alumna Jamie Sigler O’Grady ’01; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hosted by art alumnus Paul Nissenbaum ’12; the studio of art alumnus, silversmith and designer Heath Wagoner ’11; and see the Broadway production “Hadestown,” featuring theatre alumnus Malcolm Armwood ’12 in the ensemble.
Learn more on the program website; the college will hold an information meeting in September.
“The forest was so serene and had towering trees, and that day was very foggy and misty, so it gave the forest a very calm and quiet feeling,” she said.
The trip was Washburn’s first study abroad and international experience. She was inspired to apply because her sister-in-law is one-quarter Korean, and she and Washburn’s brother honeymooned in South Korea.
Washburn’s experience did not disappoint.
“The learning experience was like an art student’s dream trip,” she said. “Every day we went to a museum or talked with a master jeweler. One of my favorite places we saw was the celadon exhibition at the National Museum of Korea. I was in awe the entire time viewing pottery that were hundreds of years old that were so detailed and intricate.
“I have taken much of what I saw and learned and am planning on incorporating the forms and traditions into my own work; I even want to put some of this work into my senior show.”
Sam Ford ’26, who graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in art and a double emphasis in textile design and metal design, also enjoyed all aspects of the trip, noting a standout experience was learning about the traditional techniques at a bronze factory.
School of Theatre and Dance students and professor John Carlson, far right, show off the results from participating in a cooking class during the College of Fine Arts and Communication summer study abroad trip to South Korea.
Many of the art students were eager to shop for art supplies, and both Ford and Washburn returned home with treasures.
“I think the mother of pearl was my favorite purchase,” Ford said. “It’s very hard to find in the States, so I’m glad I got the chance to buy some.”
One of Parker Lee’s favorite trip memories was the solo and group stops at photobooths, a small, but joyful experience. Lee will graduate this fall with her bachelor’s in communication with a public relations concentration, and next fall with her master’s in strategic communication.
Like Donegain, Lee was excited to join the trip due to her love for Korean culture, including K-pop. She enjoyed the cultural immersion, along with the communication curriculum that took students on company and university visits, and to various lectures.
“I think one of my top things we got to do was the joint program with Jeju National University students,” Lee said. “They were all so kind and welcoming, and it was just overall a really great experience to interact with people our age and talk, while also doing an assignment together.”
For the Theatre and Dance students, Carlson likes to arrive ahead to look around and get comfortable before the students land. This year, he picked a half-dozen performances to give students a variety of experiences, including slapstick comedy incorporating taekwondo, traditional folk dance, and musical theater with a single performer.
“Each time I go back I’ve discovered more,” he said. “I’ve wanted to develop a global theater course that exposes students to theater other than our stock Spanish or French, Italian/Elizabethan or Greek/Roman.”
Donegain said this year’s shows gave focus to the nonverbal parts of theater, helping students learn about South Korea’s traditional music and how its music and composers differ from American counterparts.
“The best educational experience I received from the trip was doing tours of theaters and even the MBC (TV) studio tour,” Donegain said. “It helped me learn about different aspects of theater and even showed me how many options I have in my field.”