Recover Emotionally and Find Life's Direction Through the Humanities... Culture Ministry Recruiting Participants for Youth Humanities Classroom

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on August 13 that, together with the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, it is recruiting young people aged 19 to 39 to participate in the ‘Youth Humanities Classroom (Humanities Happiness Center)’ and the ‘Culture Freedom Classroom’.

The Humanities Happiness Center, which helps young people recover emotionally and explore life directions, will accept applications starting August 13. The Culture Freedom Classroom, which supports youth in experiencing the humanities in a more immersive way while staying in their local region, will accept applications beginning August 20. Applications can be submitted through the Inmun360 website, the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service website, and the Youth Humanities Classroom webpage. The Humanities Happiness Center was launched last year, while the Culture Freedom Classroom is a new initiative beginning this year.

The Humanities Happiness Center is a program carried out in collaboration with local governments and private foundations such as Jigwan Foundation to help youth heal and to provide opportunities for reflective humanities experiences. This year, the program has been expanded from six existing locations associated with Jigwan Seoga to a total of eight locations, with the addition of two youth centers in Gwangju and Gangwon, thereby broadening its reach to more youth. Jigwan Seoga is a humanities space created using idle public spaces provided by local governments and planned by the nonprofit public interest Jigwan Foundation, funded by SK. It operates in six areas across the country: Suwon, Andong, Yeoju, Ulsan, Uljin, and Pyeongtaek.

At the Humanities Happiness Center, young people are invited to revisit their emotions and experiences through humanities-oriented questions and expand their perspectives as they build relationships with others. Each program will recruit 15 youth participants.

The Suwon Jigwan Seoga location will run the ‘Happiness Standard Reset Classroom,’ themed around happiness. The Yeoju Goethe Village Jigwan Seoga will offer ‘Garden of Immersion: Cultivating and Growing a Humanities Garden Together,’ centered on overcoming challenges. The Andong Jigwan Seoga will hold the ‘Andong Humanities Happiness Truck,’ focusing on body and mind. Uljin Geumgangsong Forest Jigwan Seoga will present ‘Work and Life Path Game,’ themed around breathing and rest. Ulsan Park Sang-jin Lake Park Jigwan Seoga will host ‘Empty with Water Gazing, Fill with Book Gazing,’ a program focusing on inspiration. Finally, at the Ulsan Art Museum Jigwan Seoga, the ‘Exploring Humanities Tastes Club’ will focus on beauty.

In addition, the Gwangju Youth Center will provide ‘Humanities Lunchbox’ and ‘Personal Humanities Protocol,’ programs centered on recovery and connection, while the Gangwon Youth Center will operate the ‘Humanities Café,’ themed around mental recipes.

The Culture Freedom Classroom is a project that, following a pilot run in 2024, will be officially implemented this year in 14 regions: Wonju, Inje, Chuncheon, Taebaek, Pyeongchang, Hamyang, Gyeongsan, Andong, Suncheon, Haenam, Gochang, Jeonju, Goesan, and Okcheon. Programs have been designed to leverage each area’s unique humanities resources and communities, and each program will recruit 20 young participants. The initiative aims to support young people as they remain in local areas, engage in independent humanities activities, explore their surroundings, reflect on themselves, and discover new perspectives and possibilities for their lives.

In Chuncheon, a program will encourage youth to reassess familiar standards of living and explore their own path through the lens of ‘Liberation and Margins.’ In Gochang and Andong, youth will be invited to view local heritage as objects of contemplation and to discover essential questions about life. In Jeonju and Okcheon, programs will operate within neighborhood and community settings, as participants experience people-place relationships and seek sustainable ways of living. These programs will begin in September.

This year's Youth Humanities Classroom has greatly increased its scale and support to help young people experience more diverse and in-depth humanities and cultural activities. The Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, which serves as the central agency for humanities, has established a public-private partnership by signing business agreements with nine organizations, including local governments, Jigwan Foundation, Youth Foundation, Korea Foundation for Cultural Heritage, Jigwan Seoga, and youth centers. Additionally, the opinions of local humanities organizations and youth planners were collected through 19 rounds of feedback to create programs that genuinely resonate with youth.

More information about application procedures and participant guidelines for the ‘2026 Youth Humanities Classroom’ can be found on the official website.

Myung Soo-hyun, Director of Cultural Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, “We hope that young people will discover the meaning of life through the humanities and rebuild healthy social relationships to regain a sense of direction in their lives. The Ministry will continue to expand opportunities for youth to engage in humanities activities that are closely linked to their daily lives, so that they can pursue their own life paths based on what it means to be human.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.