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Location
Beijing, the capital of China since the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century, is the heart of cultural and political life in China. Among the broad modern avenues and picturesque traditional hutongs, you will find the nation's central government departments, leading universities, medical schools, and centers of art and media. Home to more than 15 million people, Beijing provides a rich environment for studies of China past and present.
Host Institution
The program is affiliated with Beijing University, one of the premier institutions of higher education in China, with a student population of more than 30,000.
The Core Course
Chinese Society and Culture
The core course combines lectures, readings, discussions, and the writing assignments of the Fieldbook with the more experiential program components of dorm stays with Chinese roommates, family stays, and study trips. Lectures given by scholars and specialists introduce you to a range of topics including history, politics, economics, population, environment and rural China. The course also includes complementary instruction in Chinese calligraphy and tai chi, a simplified Yang style of 24 movements.
Intensive Chinese Language
Chinese is offered at the elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels. The classes emphasize proficiency in speaking and listening, as well as the reading and writing of Chinese characters. You will be asked to sign a “Language Pledge” to devote yourself to speaking Chinese with your Chinese roommates, host family, staff and friends in the community.
Elective Courses
Designed to help you further explore one aspect of Chinese culture, elective courses include special topics seminars, directed independent study projects (DISP), internships, and arts apprenticeships. Some electives require prerequisite knowledge or experience. All projects are assisted by a Chinese graduate student tutor as well as program staff and other area specialists. Among a wide range of elective choices, special topics in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Media Studies are available because of the program’s affiliation with Beijing University Health Sciences Center (Medical School) and School of Broadcasting and Journalism. All electives require a final written report with a significant analytical component as well as other appropriate documentation of learning depending on your topic. The program strongly recommends you select a project that involves field research, oral interviews, participant observation and other techniques that facilitate cultural immersion over those involving primarily library research. Topic selection may be limited due to available resources and local conditions.
Study Trips
To deepen your understanding of topics covered in the core course, you will travel to various locations in China. Destinations may change from semester to semester, but past excursions have included:
Hangzhou and Jiangnan Area
Known as the “paradise on the earth” and encompassing the Yangtse River delta and including Shanghai, this is an area of natural beauty powered by cultural and economic strength. Historically the trading centers for salt, tea and silk, today the Jiangnan region still serves as the national center of trade and finance.
Xi’an
A city of ancient elegance, Xi’an, has witnessed the glories of Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties. The city wall built in the Ming Dynasty is still kept in its original form. View the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, first discovered in the 1970s by a local farmer. In the old city, students will feel a strong touch of Islamic culture brought by immigrants from the West during ancient times, who maintain their traditional lifestyle and religious activities.
Wutaishan
The center for the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Wutaishan is shaped by both Han and Tibetan traditions in this concentration of 47 temples, monasteries, and nunneries.
Kaili in Guizhou
With a mix of beautiful landscape and well preserved Miao villages, Kaili presents a vivid example of China’s diversity in ethnic cultures. Due to the difficulty in transportation in this mountainous province, regions like Kaili, have been turned into “reservations.” This trip is a dramatic contrast after your days in Beijing.
Gannan Tibetan Region
South Gansu province, with access to Tibet and Qinghai, is mostly inhabited by ethnic minorities, the majority Tibetan. Among the pastoral landscapes here students will visit Tibetan villages, monasteries and a Tibetan Buddhist college.
Dorm Stays and Family Stays
During most of the semester you will live on campus with Chinese roommates. You will also have the privilege of homestays with a family in Beijing and a farming family in a rural village. Urban families live in small apartments and speak little or no English. Rural families live in large brick houses with little modern amenities. There is little chance for privacy. Initially, you may find adjustment to such households difficult, but students often consider the homestays to be the most transformative dimension of the program. |
