Despite the increased demand for cultural contents, there remains a lack of academic education of and research into the field itself. Providing a basis for the long-term development of cultural contents by fostering professionals based on systematic research has become a national-level project. Placing the academic foundation of cultural contents in the arts and humanities, the Department of Cultural Contents & Communication at the Konkuk University (KU) Graduate School aims to discover an “academic engine” for cultural contents, incorporating the cultural industry and a foundation in the arts and humanities through a form of varied, integrated education including cultural technology (CT). Having been selected for the government-led Brain Korea (BK) 21 Plus talent development project in 2013, our department is focused on fostering experts at the forefront of the 21st century culture industry.

The major program is focused on two directions. Firstly, emphasis is placed on fostering outstanding professionals in the culture industry. Secondly, the program aims to develop cultural contents researchers who are capable of making significant contributions to the establishment of the field through the undertaking of systematic research into all areas of cultural contents with a basis in the arts and humanities.

“Communication,” although recognized largely as a field of the social sciences similar to journalism and broadcasting or media studies, is in fact an independent academic field related to the broad areas of the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, arts and physical education. Communication has long been one of the major academic fields in countries with advanced academic traditions such as those in Europe.

Communication problems – how information should be communicated, for example – are becoming increasingly prevalent in our society, and the fact that people are taking a greater interest in issues concerning information itself is being more highlighted than in the past. Whether it be through communication networks, advertisements, film, television, radio, newspapers, publishing or the internet, the medium through which information is conveyed has a decisive influence on the fate of individuals, companies or the country itself. Accordingly, there is an increased need not only for responses to communication problems at the institutional level in Korea, but also for an academic field combining comprehensive research and education from the perspective of contents.

In addition, mediums including the mass media, advertising, video and new media are the central components of communication in our society. We approach these forms of media from the perspective of communication; our research is conducted on communication phenomena including advertising, PR, marketing, journalism and publishing based on the fundamental theories of the humanities including semiotics, lingual and non-lingual communication. Through these pursuits, we aim to foster specialists in a range of social fields and professions relevant to communication.