Semester at Sea, a University-sponsored study abroad program, announced a new curriculum and program that will focus on past and future Chinese-American relations in a Thursday ceremony in Hong Kong.
“This program, whose creation is announced today, builds on Semester at Sea’s successful educational mission and dovetails with the University’s ongoing initiatives to expand its global footprint,” University President John T. Casteen, III stated in a press release.
The new program is named after and supported by C.Y. Tung, a Chinese shipping magnate who was “instrumental in the founding of Semester at Sea,” according to the University press release.
“The recent gift is in part a continuation of the [Tung] family’s interest in international education and in part a gesture of support for the conception of what we refer to as the academical village, but specifically as it exists when students and faculty members live and work together on the ship,” Casteen stated in an e-mail.
Casteen said the Tung program will allow students to learn about various subjects related to Chinese-American relations, especially in the social sciences, through interactions with an international group of faculty members. Mike Zoll, vice president of enrollment and student affairs for SAS added that, “China has been one of the places that we say is crucial for cross-cultural understanding.”
The program will create a new upper-level class about Chinese-American relations that will be taught by a team of teachers, SAS Director of Marketing Cody Hartley said.
“We will have multiple perspectives in the curriculum,” he said, explaining that professors from American and Chinese institutions will teach the course. One of the professors will be University history Prof. John W. Israel, a respected authority on Chinese history. Other faculty for the course will include professors from Yale University and Fudan University, one of the most highly regarded Chinese universities.
The affiliation with Fudan enhances both the Semester at Sea voyage and the University’s already beneficial relationship with the Chinese institute, Casteen said.
“We are already linked to Fudan,” Casteen stated in an e-mail. “Fudan students and faculty members have come here to participate in student research seminars.”
The program also will create 10 new scholarships, five for American students and five for Chinese students. Zoll said these students will take part in the new class and in special “field experiences” in China, which will likely include visits to Chinese historical sites, businesses and possibly Chinese universities as well, helping to promote a cultural awareness of China.
The new program will begin during the Spring 2010 voyage, said Julie Benner, associate director of communications for SAS. The voyage will make 11 stops at ports, including two Chinese ports, as it circumnavigates the world.
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