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Ohio State Receives
$100,000
Hubei Wuhan Minru Li, William Brustein, Gary Locke, Li Xiaohong,
Bob Eckhart, Monday, 26 September |
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The Ohio State University and Wuhan University
in the People’s Republic of China have been awarded a $100,000
federal grant from the Department of State to fund the WHU-OSU
Center for American Culture, located within the School of Foreign
Languages on the Wuhan campus in the Hubei Province of China. The
grant will support interactive programming to provide information
about American culture and the English language to the people of
China.
The $100,000 grant is one of only 10 that has been awarded by the
American Embassy in Beijing to pairs of Chinese and American
universities throughout the United States and China.
A delegation from Ohio State traveled to China to meet with
officials from Wuhan University to commemorate the approval of funds
to open the center. Attending the informal ceremony was Gary Locke,
the U.S. Ambassador to China, President Li Xiaohong of Wuhan
University and officials from Ohio State, including Vice Provost for
Global Strategies and International Affairs William I. Brustein, Bob
Eckhart, a Lecturer in both the Department of English and the
Combined ESL Programs in the College of Education and Human Ecology,
Minru Li, Assistant Director of the National East Asian Language
Resource Center, and Phoebe You, Director of Ohio State’s China
Gateway.
“The Center for American Culture is another step in the right
direction for Ohio State in terms of our engagement in global
initiatives,” Brustein said. “The value of teaching global
perspectives to the next generation is an invaluable asset and
better prepares students for a myriad of opportunities that may
arise. Our partnership with Wuhan University and our engagement in
China help fulfill our mission to serve our community and the world
at large.”
The Center for American Culture will create a learning environment
that promotes a better understanding of the diversity of U.S.
culture through lectures and discussions on the U.S. legal system,
social structures and higher education as well as American
literature, music, film and television. Visitors to the center will
experience an American atmosphere that will include furnishings
typically found in the United States, a demonstration kitchen to
sample American cuisine and an entertainment area to experience
board games and other activities. A calendar of special events will
be developed to share American culture that includes the celebration
of holidays, American storytelling, sports, American history, and
other programming.
The center will be jointly operated by Junping Liu, Deputy Dean of
the College of Foreign Languages and Literature at Wuhan University
and Ohio State's Eckhart, who also is Program Manager for the Wuhan
University Summer Intensive English Program, a partnership with the
College of Education and Human Ecology. Liu will oversee the
day-to-day operations of the center while Eckhart will direct
programming efforts.
“I am looking forward to this innovative leadership structure. We
are two people working together to do one job, just like China and
the U.S. must work together to promote education, economic
prosperity and peace,” Eckhart said.
The opening of the WHU-OSU Center for American Culture is the
culmination of a 30-year partnership between the two universities in
areas that include language teaching, chemistry, irrigation and
drainage, clean energy, library and information science, law and
medicine. In addition to student and faculty exchanges, Ohio State
has trained over 30 Wuhan administrators in three separate
delegations. Since 2004, the College of Education and Human Ecology
at Ohio State has collaborated with Wuhan University in conducting
the Wuhan University Summer Intensive English Program where teachers
from across the United States are recruited annually, trained by
Ohio State, and then travel to China to teach college students about
contemporary American culture. In the last seven years, over 100
teachers have traveled to China on this program and taught almost
5,000 students.
Core objectives for the center are to: create an advanced English
language and authentic American cultural environment; promote
administrative, faculty and student training; provide cultural
background information to Chinese and American businesses; utilize a
videoconferencing facility to increase programming, including
opportunities for English conversation; and increase the number of
collaborative projects between faculty at Wuhan University and Ohio
State.
In addition to the Center for American Culture, Ohio State also
operates a China Gateway office in Shanghai. It serves as a point of
contact for faculty research, teaching and international
partnerships; and a portal for study abroad opportunities and
international student recruitment. The China Gateway also provides
Ohio State with an opportunity to partner with Ohio-based businesses
and multinationals operating in global markets and the ability to
connect with Ohio State alumni.
Wuhan University is one of the top 10 universities in China and
enrolls nearly 50,000 students. It is best known as a leader in
China in the fields of biological studies and law.
Phoebe YouUSA WeekGrantAm |
