Teaching across cultures: Profs do summer stints in South Korea 

Teaching across cultures: Profs reflect on summer stints in South Korea 

This summer, several Faculty of Information professors left their classrooms in Toronto to travel to Seoul, where they taught students, shared research and connected with colleagues at partner institutions. The visits reflect the Faculty’s growing relationship with South Korea, which is designed to create new opportunities for both students and faculty from participating universities. 

Assistant Professor Tao Wang and lecturer Hemant Sangwan taught courses on artificial intelligence and business to MBA students at SKKU’s Graduate School of Business.  

“The students were highly engaged, curious and eager to learn. Every class was filled with thoughtful questions, lively discussions and inspiring exchanges of ideas,” Wang wrote on LinkedIn after returning to Canada, adding that the friendships he formed with students and colleagues were what he would remember most. 

For Assistant Professor Nusrat Jahan Mim, the visit centred on research. She was invited to speak at the 2026 SKKU Global Colloquium, joining scholars from universities in Canada and the United States to discuss how emerging technologies are reshaping society. Her presentation, which drew on research from across the global south, examined the ways AI reflects the assumptions embedded in the cities and infrastructures on which it is built. 

The professors’ visits took place against a backdrop of expanding collaboration between the Faculty of Information and SKKU. Together with the University of Toronto’s Office of the Vice-President, International and the Centre for International Experience, the two institutions have launched the International Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, a four-week program that brings graduate students from both universities together in Seoul and Toronto. The schools are also developing joint certificate programs in AI and Business and social media and K-Culture.