Dr. Henry Sirgo, professor of political science at McNeese State University, spent 10 months at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, as a Fulbright Scholar. Sirgo is the seventh faculty member in the department of liberal arts to be awarded a Fulbright. He is pictured here in Seodaemun-Gu, South Korea.

When academicians apply for a Fulbright Scholarship to teach abroad through the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, they are asked to select their desired destinations and prioritize them. The first choice for Dr. Henry Sirgo, a McNeese State University professor in the department of social sciences, was South Korea.

As a professor of political science, Sirgo is intrigued by the country’s rapid social and political change as it continues to adjust to democracy, which was established in 1987. He was ultimately awarded the Fulbright Scholarship and spent 10 months at Yonsei University in Seoul, where he witnessed first-hand the sweeping effects of a young democracy.

“The popularity of protests surprised me a little bit. I didn’t realize how enthusiastic the population is about protesting. There’s a real fervor,” Sirgo said. “When I got there, there were 300 people protesting a new building, and every Wednesday, about 80 people protested outside the Japanese Embassy at noon to demand an apology for oppressive behaviors during World War II.”

Sirgo arrived in South Korea on August 30, 2007 and left on June 30, 2008. On the day Sirgo left for Louisiana, more than 18,000 people had gathered in central Seoul to reignite protests against the importation of American beef. The protesters, who numbered close to 100,000 on June 10, were angered over the government’s decision to lift a beef ban after mad cow disease was detected in 2003.

“People don’t realize that South Korea has the 12th largest economy in the world. They have experienced phenomenal economic growth in a short period of time,” Sirgo said. “The establishment of democracy there has had many different effects on the country.”

While in South Korea, Sirgo lectured at Yonsei University and presented a paper, ”Best Practices in Advanced Democracies: The U.S. Case of Party Funding and State Subsidies for Political Parties,” at the Special International Conference of Asian Political Parties Workshop. Sirgo also participated in a panel discussion on executive branch reorganization in the United States at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Asian Centre for Public Governance and participated in the second International Yonsei Public Administration Conference.

Sirgo also took courses on the Korean language, but said he was able to communicate effectively in English with his students.

“They had a great command of the English language. It wasn’t much different than teaching in a classroom here at McNeese,” he said. For Sirgo, the biggest culture shock was the physical exertion required to navigate on foot in the mountainous country. “I’m happy to be back where it’s flat. There were lots of steps there and lots of climbing required. Luckily my knees survived.”

Although he was more than 7,000 miles away, he said the touch of Louisiana was usually at arm’s length.

“The food there is spicy,” Sirgo said. “Every restaurant had a bottle of Tabasco sauce on the table.”

The Fulbright Scholar Program, established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, sends 850 U.S. faculty and professionals abroad each year to lecture and conduct research in a wide variety of fields. The program operates in more than 150 countries worldwide. The Fulbright Scholars Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.

Sirgo was also a recipient of a Fulbright-Hayes grant for advanced study in China for five weeks during the summer of 2004. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of New Orleans and his master's degree and doctorate in American government from Florida State University. Sirgo has been a full-time faculty member at McNeese since 1976.