2008 Woodie Awards
URI hopes to improve relations with China by opening Confucius Institute
Bridgette Blight
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: News
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The opening ceremony was held yesterday in the Galanti Lounge at the University Library. Representatives from the Chinese Consulate, the Lt. Governor's office, the Yue Opera, Zhejiang University and members of the Confucius institute at Bryant University attended.
Professor Yan Ma, director of URI's Confucius Institute, said the Institute is a relationship between URI and Zhejiang University that will increase education on Chinese topics and provide opportunities for students from URI to study at Zhejiang. Ma praised President Robert L. Carothers for helping to bring the Confucius Institute to URI.
"[Carothers is advocating] for an understanding of not only Chinese language but Chinese culture as well," Ma said.
Carothers recalled how the Confucius Institute came to URI. A meeting in New York City to discuss the possibility of a Confucius Institute at URI eventually ended with a contract signing ceremony for the project.
"Yan Ma is a force of nature," Carothers said. "We're very proud of her and the work she's done."
Before the Confucius Institute came to URI, students demonstrated an interest in learning the Chinese language. In 2003, 350 students signed a petition for Chinese language courses to be taught at URI.
When Chinese debuted in 2004, student interest in Chinese language and culture continued to grow. As a result, the Chinese International Engineering Program, the Chinese International Business Program and the Chinese Librarianship Program were created.
With the Chinese IEP and the Chinese IBP, students receive two degrees: one in engineering or business, and one in Chinese. The Chinese IEP and the Chinese IBP are five-year programs. The first semester is spent studying at Zhejiang University, and students spend their fourth year of study in China. Students then spend six months at an internship with one of URI's partner companies in China.
The Chinese Librarianship Program allows students at the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies the opportunity to study the organizational systems of Chinese libraries.
Jennifer Wood, general counsel for the lieutenant government, spoke at the ceremony. She was a member of the steering committee for the URI Confucius Institute. Wood complimented URI for fostering a closer relationship with China. She said she admired the committee's diligence in securing a Confucius Institute at URI.
"I am utterly amazed that during this brief period of time so much has happened," Wood said. Professor Ma began petitioning Carothers to bring a Confucius Institute to URI in the summer of 2006. URI was named a Confucius Institute in March 2007.
Professor Jiamin Ding, director of the Office of International Affairs at Zhejiang University, praised URI for fostering a relationship between the United States and China.
"It is a great honor for Zhejiang University to work with URI," Ding said. "The [URI] Confucius Institute will surely become one of the best in the world."
Ding presented University Library's Dean David Maslyn with a piece of Chinese artwork for the Confucius Institute Hall, which is on the first floor of the library.
After the invitation-only ceremony, musicians from the Ningbo Yue Opera performed traditional Chinese music for the public.
The musicians accompanied Yue opera singers in performing a few numbers from Butterfly Lovers, the Chinese opera that they will perform at Veterans' Memorial Auditorium in Providence on Saturday, Oct. 26.
The Yue Opera donated costumes from "Butterfly Lovers" and traditional Chinese instruments to URI. The complete historical documents and recordings of the Yue Opera will also be available at the URI library. URI's library received 3,000 volumes on Chinese culture that will be housed in Special Collections.
The Office of Chinese Language Council International, also known as Hanban, created the Confucius Institute as a way to educate the world about Chinese language and culture. It started in 2004 with a pilot institute in Uzbekistan and the first official institute in Seoul, Korea. There are currently 156 Confucius Institutes in 36 countries around the world.