A delegation of faculty and administrators from UT’s Confucius Institute’s Chinese partner—Southeast University in Nanjing, China—will be on campus April 13–15 to explore additional academic collaborations between the two universities.
The Chinese delegation’s visit coincides with the first anniversary of the Confucius Institute’s inauguration ceremony.
The SEU group will meet with Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek and Provost Susan Martin, attend the Confucius Institute Board of Advisors annual meeting, tour Oak Ridge National Laboratory, tour campus, and visit with personnel from three UT departments—Finance, Industrial and Systems Engineering and Theory and Practice in Teacher Education—and the School of Art.
The Confucius Institute is a collaborative effort between the university; HANBAN, a Chinese Ministry of Education subsidiary in Beijing; and Southeast University. Geography Professor Shih-Lung Shaw is the director of the institute.
A nonprofit center, the Confucius Institute serves the UT campus and local community by offering for-credit and noncredit Chinese language courses, sponsoring cultural activities, helping local schools provide more education about China, facilitating exchange activities, and serving as a bridge between China and the state of Tennessee.
During its first year, the Confucius Institute participated in the Knoxville Dragon Boat Festival and UT Welcome Week activities, hosted the Moon Festival Celebration and Chinese Culture Week, sponsored a music and dance performance by Inner Mongolia University, hosted Chinese Movie Month, sponsored a photo contest, and offered various noncredit courses in Chinese languages. The Confucius Institute sponsors Chinese instruction in the Confucius Classroom at Pellissippi State Community College and helped a Chinese teacher from the Episcopal School of Knoxville attend a training program at East China Normal University in Shanghai during the summer of 2013. The institute also has discussed future collaborations with Webb School of Knoxville, Johnson University, Roane State University, the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, and East Tennessee Chinese School.
The Confucius Institute has worked with students and faculty of the Global Leadership Scholars program in the College of Business Administration this semester to have an online forum between UT and SEU business students.
For more information about the Confucius Institute, visit its website, e-mail confucius@utk.edu or call 865-974-5753.
—
CONTACT:
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)