• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.25
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• pp.597-626
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• 2011

Civil college is a public educational institute for theoretical and practical learning. This study examines the social context behind France's civil college and how it is being operated. Many studies have been conducted in Korea to examine Germany in terms of lifelong learning or adult learning, but there is almost no study on France. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the history and operation of civil college, the "college outside college," in France and what Korea should learn from it. The civil college of France can be discussed in two contexts: first, it is AUPF, which stands for the French association of civil colleges, and it was mostly influenced by Northern Europe and Germany. Second, it is Caen Civil College, which was established by M. Onfray based his philosophical collaboration. The European civil college opened almost 1,000 courses in 2010-2011 for a variety of subjects, including Foreign Languages, Mother Tongue, the Dialects of Alsace, Philosophy, Cosmology, History, Art History, Psychology, Sociology, Astronomy, Botany, and Natural Science. Courses in Fine Arts include drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, music, and theater. For another form of civil college, Philosopher M. Onfray has been operating Caen Civil College since 2002 for general education and cultural education. It is not acknowledged by conventional philosophers, but it is contributing to the popularization of philosophy. In conclusion, the civil college in France has brought in-depth philosophical discussions out of the lecture rooms in an effort to popularize learning, making lifelong learning more accessible to the general public.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.49
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• pp.201-228
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• 2017

In Korean society, universities represent institutions of higher education. Industrialization and economic development led to a small number of elite groups at the helm of these institutions. However, our society has encouraged a lifelong system of learning, and apparently, the present university system does not represent an ideal scenario. The Korean government recognized the need for appropriate changes. The events associated with the implementation of related policies occurred at the Ewha Womans University (Seoul) last year. This article is based on the notion of lifelong education to further our understanding of the role of university in the absence of a consensus among university and college members regarding lifelong learning in our society. As an alternative, we looked at the case of France, which is adopting a lifelong education system and implementing related policies ahead of us. Despite regulatory challenges and adaptation of the role of public education in lifelong learning, France has laid a solid foundation. In our case, we are recognizing the need to prepare for lifelong learning. In particular, it is necessary to increase public awareness of education by clearly recognizing our national responsibility and increasing the financial support to universities, accordingly. Above all, the role and attitude of universities must change, along with the perception of its members.