Project Bridge is an annual year-long intercultural outreach program for high school juniors that was established after the Los Angeles Riots (SAIGU) took place in 1992. It was established in 1993 by the Los Angeles based Pacific Century Institute in conjunction with the New York based The Korea Society. There are 16 high school juniors (8 from Los Angeles and 8 from New York) chosen each year.

During their time in Los Angeles and New York the students attend different workshops that focus on topics such as: building and strengthening leadership skills (presentation and public speaking), education on intercultural understanding (race, ethnicity, nationality, culture), education on Korea (culture, history, language, economy, policy), and the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, which deeply affected the area’s Korean American community. The highlight of Project Bridge is a fully subsidized ten-day study tour in Korea and includes visits to numerous historical sites as well as a home stay with Korean high school students.

The goal of this program is to instill a sense of understanding and respect to “bridge” the gap between cultures. The students all come from diverse backgrounds and all live in America thus Project Bridge wants to inspire cultural awareness and the importance of understanding between cultures so that the Los Angeles Riots (SAIGU) will not take place again. The simultaneous teaching of cultural awareness and leadership skills create mindful youth leaders once the program is over, thus promoting individual and societal change.

Activities during the year-long program include:

Seminars covering Korean history, language and culture
Monthly workshops on multicultural youth leadership issues and relations
Field trips
Community service
10-day educational study tour of Korea

Please take a look at some of the past participants reflections after completing the Project Bridge Program.



APPLICATION FORM (Click and Download)

Los Angeles (Student deadline: Monday, October 24)	New York (Student deadline: Monday, October 24) (Group Leader deadline: Friday, October 21)
Student Information Recommendation Form Application Form	Group Leader Information Student Information Recommendation Form Application Form