China Semester, Fall 2007



The University at Albany
Center for the Humanities, Arts and TechnoSciences (CHATS), China Center,
College of Arts and Sciences, Office of International Education, and
Office of the Provost

present

Gateways to China

The Fall 2007 China Semester will present a wide variety of opportunities for students, faculty, and staff at the University at Albany, and members of the wider community, to learn and experience more about China and all things Chinese -- geography, food, film, history, art, politics, theater, music, literature, dance, sports --during the Fall 2007 academic semester and with bridges to the future.

The theme semester’s primary objectives are:

• To enhance student awareness of programs, academic courses, and cultural activities dealing with China and its people;
• To increase the numbers of students learning the Chinese language and traveling to China to participate in Study Abroad courses;
• To stimulate interest in all aspects of China among members of the larger community in and around Albany and to engage with the Chinese community in the area;
• To raise awareness and increase appreciation of all aspects of Chinese culture, including art, folk customs, film, literature, theater, music, dance, and recreational activities by bringing performance groups and artists to the campus;
• To debate and discuss the implications of China’s growing importance on the world stage.

The China Semester will include the following activities:

China Courses taught at the University at Albany

• A number of China-related courses will be offered as the intellectual core of the China Semester. The majority will be listed as Department of East Asian Studies courses, but other campus-wide programs offering or cross-listing China courses include: Geography and Planning; Globalization; Women’s Studies; English; Political Science and History. In some cases, classroom size has been expanded to allow other participants to attend specific events such as guest lectures and film showings. The primary academic goal of the China Semester is to increase awareness among Albany students about China, in the hope that more of them will think seriously about learning the language, traveling to and studying in China, and taking China-related courses on campus, during the Fall 2007 semester and beyond
• Four China Film Series: Included among the courses for the China Theme Semester are four offerings featuring films from different eras and genres, and focusing on different parts of China. The films will be open to other students and faculty at the University, and to members of the community on the dates noted in the calendar section. Each film will be prefaced by a short introduction intended to put it into its larger context and to provide some background information for the audience
• The course Introduction to the History of Chinese Painting will be offered with special sections focusing on The Chinese Painting, The Chinese Painter, Early Buddhist Art at Dunhuang, Northern Song Landscape Painting, The Yuan Dynasty Master Zhao Mengfu, and The Seventeenth Century.
• Also featured during the China Semester (but occurring in the Winter Intersession) are Study Abroad Courses based at, and taught by professors from the University at Albany’s sister institution in China, East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai. The courses are taught entirely in English to undergraduates seeking to visit China for the first time. Students live and take courses on the main campus of ECNU, which is consistently ranked as one of China's top twenty universities.

Extra-curricular activities (campus-wide events and events open to the community) A number of ancillary activities will be featured during the China Semester, some of which will be integrated into the curricula of the academic courses, with others designed to be of more general interest to the faculty and students of the University, as well as to members of the local community. Among the various activities are included:

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Bamboo Quartet. Photo by Michael Cuno.

• A Seminar Series at the China Center: dealing with specific topics of interest relating both to traditional and contemporary China. The seminars, which are open to the entire University and beyond, will be organized and presented by local China experts, with contributions from outside scholars.
• The China House is an on-campus residential community of students interested in deepening their language skills by using the language in a residential environment. Students participating in the program will have an opportunity to combine practical language acquisition with increased appreciation of the complexities of issues relating to China. Activities will be organized throughout the year to encourage the creation of a community environment centered on the students’ interest in China. The China House is a joint effort of the Department of East Asian Studies and the Office of International Education.