The University of Central Arkansas will use a federal grant to create an interdisciplinary Chinese studies program that will include an emphasis on Chinese language and culture.
Dr. Hui Wu in UCA’s Department of Writing was awarded a two-year Title VI grant of $166,339 from the U.S. Department of Education for her proposal entitled, ?Improving the Asian Studies Curriculum through a Focus on China.? The funds will be used to support faculty members who are developing China-related courses across various academic fields, as well as students who will study Chinese in the Chinese language immersion program at the East China Normal University in Shanghai, which is one of the best in China.
?This project, the first of its kind in Arkansas, will meet urgent student and state needs in cross-cultural understanding and communication demanded by the world economy and politics increasingly connected to China,? Wu said. ?We will add a Chinese language minor and eventually a major in Chinese studies to the existing Asian studies program at UCA.?
Built on UCA?s commitment to international education, the Chinese Studies program will:
–Improve the Asian studies minor through course revisions and the addition of an emphasis in Chinese studies;
–Add a Chinese language minor as the backbone of the program;
–Develop a language immersion program to support Chinese studies;
–Support faculty development in curricular internationalization, including K-12 Chinese teacher preparation; and
–Enhance student exposure to Chinese culture through showcasing Chinese performing arts.
For these objectives, UCA has completed the groundwork through curriculum and faculty development and outreach to Arkansas schools. For example, UCA has built a partnership in China for the language immersion program and will offer the first Chinese language class in spring 2007. It has supported more than a dozen faculty members to attend national workshops on teaching about Asia.
UCA will soon hire a tenure-line specialist in Chinese language and change the current visiting positions in Chinese history and literature to tenure hires. Currently, a general education course, Global Environment of Business, reaches more than 300 undergraduates each year. The International Studies Major has been approved by the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The East-West Regional Center at UCA, a regional center designated by the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii, held a regional workshop in 2005 and will host another one in February 2007. More important, the Arkansas State Board of Education has approved Chinese as an additional subject in foreign language education, and the Arkansas Department of Education has invited UCA to be its partner to develop a Chinese teacher preparation program.
The two-year funding period will witness the development of an interdisciplinary Chinese studies curriculum through an inter-college consortium, the development of a Chinese minor enriched by language immersion, and art activities to reach out to schools and enhance UCA students’ exposure to Chinese culture. By the end of the funding period, UCA will have a Chinese language minor to support Chinese studies as an integral part of the Asian studies curriculum and will begin to develop Chinese studies into a major in order to provide Arkansas schools with Chinese language teachers within five years.
The operation of this grant at UCA engages 11 faculty members from four colleges: UCA?s College of Fine Arts and Communication, UCA?s College of Liberal Arts, the UCA Honors College and the UCA College of Business.
The grant includes $5,000 to support the upcoming performance of the Shaolin Warriors at UCA, as well as underwriting for UCA faculty and students to take the half-semester course ?Survival Chinese for Travelers? in Spring 2008.
