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Dongguk University Assistant Professor Shin Jeong-ah
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Korea's art community is in chaos as evidence has emerged that suggests Dongguk University Assistant Professor Shin Jeong-ah (35) may have lied about her educational background and theses. Shin is the art director of next year's Gwangju Biennale.
"Amid suspicions about her doctoral art degree from Yale University, Dongguk asked for confirmation from Yale in the name of university dean Oh Young-kyo," a Dongguk official said. He said the school received a response from Yale in the name of President Richard Charles Levin stating that Shin's degree is fake and that she was never registered as a student there.
Suspicions have been growing since last Wednesday when Shin was appointed the biennale's art director. Biennale officials have made no official statement yet, but have shown a document backing Shin's claims -- a faxed response from Yale to a Dongguk inquiry in Sept. 2005.
In the fax, Pamela Schirmeister, associate dean of Yale Graduate School, confirms that Shin entered Yale's art history department in Aug. 1996 and graduated in May 2005 with a doctoral degree in art. Dongguk said at a Wednesday news conference that Yale has agreed to look into the fax and that Dongguk would also investigate.
In a telephone interview with the Chosun Ilbo Tuesday, Shin, currently on a business trip in Europe, said, "I certainly did receive a degree from Yale which is proven by the document Dongguk received from Yale in 2005. I will make a statement and take legal action as soon as I return to Seoul."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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