The University of Alabama · Advertising & Public Relations
Three weeks studying advertising and public relations where K-pop, global brands, and 5,000 years of history share the same street. May 27 – June 17, 2027.
The program
You take two APR courses taught by Alabama faculty at a partner university in Seoul — then walk out of the classroom and into the places you just studied. Broadcast studios. A search giant's headquarters. A live music show taping. The people who build Korean brands and export Korean culture.
Weekends belong to the rest of the country: a palace in a hanbok, a baseball game with a fight song section, and the coastline of Jeju Island.
Watch
Shot by the group on last summer's program — Seoul, the studios, the coastline, and eighteen people who mostly did not know each other on day one.
Courses · 6 credit hours
Dr. Hyoungkoo Khang
How Korean advertising moves from subway posters and neighborhood signage to the screens that carry Korean products worldwide.
Dr. Eyun-Jung Ki
How Korean organizations build reputation at home and turn cultural strength — music, film, food, tech — into global influence.
All majors welcome. No prerequisites. Students take both courses for a full six credit hours, and graduate students may enroll at the 590 level.
Site visits
Every unit comes with a visit. Past groups have gone inside the newsrooms, studios, and platforms below — and sat down with the professionals who run them.
Korea's public broadcaster, including a taping of its flagship music show.
The network's studio floor and the anchor desk of its evening newscast.
The search and content platform most of Korea starts its day on.
In the audience for a broadcast that ships Korean pop around the world.
Working briefings with Korean practitioners in advertising and PR.
A day at the border, and the communication history written along it.
Where you go
Two anchors stay fixed on every itinerary. Beyond them, each cohort gets a different corner of the country — so no two years of this program see the same Korea.
Home base for three weeks — classes, company visits, palaces, night markets, and a KBO baseball game.
Volcanic coastline, black-sand beaches, and the calmest days of the trip.
Next summer's group heads into the provinces just outside Seoul and across to the east coast. Recent cohorts went to Gyeongju and Busan instead.
A beach day off Udo
Everland, day off
A traditional tea ceremony
Nine innings, Korean style
Photos
A new album goes up at the end of each summer.
Testimonials
Posted publicly by students on LinkedIn and Instagram after the program.
Who you travel with
Professor of Advertising & Public Relations and program director. Teaches the public relations course and leads the program in Korea.
Professor of Advertising & Public Relations. Teaches the advertising course and co-leads the program.
Apply
Applications run through UA Education Abroad. Program cost, housing, and the application deadline are posted on the program's page there.
Dates, cost, housing, and what's included live on studyabroad.ua.edu.
Submit the Education Abroad application for UA in South Korea, Summer 2027.
Email Dr. Ki with any question at all — passports, budgets, whether your major fits. It does.