Arizona State University Partners With China's Sichuan University to Establish Confucius Institute in Tempe, Ariz.

Arizona State University Partners With China's Sichuan University to Establish Confucius Institute in Tempe, Ariz.

May 22, 2007

    BEIJING, May 22 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- A comprehensive
effort to teach Chinese language and culture in Arizona's
elementary and secondary schools is a major focus of a new
Arizona State University-Sichuan University Joint Confucius
Institute.  A signing ceremony between delegations from both
universities and China's National Office for Teaching
Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL) is scheduled for May
23 in Beijing.

    "A great research university must focus on the
needs of its immediate community, but must also be
international in scope," says Michael M. Crow,
president of Arizona State University.  "ASU's
Confucius Institute partnership enhances the university's
global impact and also benefits the local community by
expanding our knowledge of one of the world's great
cultures and emerging economic powers."

    The agreement is the latest in a series of initiatives
ASU is creating with its sister university, Sichuan
University, to implement a new higher education model with
global engagement as one of design imperatives.  The
ASU-Sichuan University Joint Confucius Institute is
designed to engage academic units across each of the
universities.

    The institute, to be located at Arizona State
University's Tempe campus, will be committed to promoting
Chinese language and culture studies to elementary,
secondary schools and the general public in Arizona.

    Initiative will include: collaborating on K-12 pedagogy
for teaching Chinese language and culture; developing
curriculum for heritage speakers of Chinese; linking K-12
schools with cultural resources in the community: museums,
cultural centers, community groups.

    It will become an integrated part of ASU and of the
greater Phoenix community by working with several offices
and academic units including the President's China
Initiatives Office; the new School of International Letters
and Cultures, and the Center for Asian Research, both in the
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Mary Lou Fulton
College of Education; and the Contemporary Chinese School
of Arizona, a non-religious, non-political and non-profit
school that teaches 445 students from the ages of 5 to 16
and provides classes in conversation for professionals.

    "The presence of the Confucius Institute on campus
will enhance and promote the teaching of Chinese language
and culture to Arizona school children.  We will have the
opportunity to promote our engagement with ASU partner
institutions in China and ensure the movement of students
and faculty between China and Arizona," notes Deborah
Losse, dean of the Division of Humanities in the College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences.

    "We have a responsibility to prepare our students
in Arizona for the global challenges and opportunities that
lie before them, and to prepare them to be responsible
global citizens.  The Confucius Institute at ASU offers a
unique opportunity to bring the world a bit closer to these
students and to dramatically broaden their global
horizons," says Anthony "Bud" Rock, ASU vice
president for global engagement.

    Additional information about Arizona State University's
China initiatives is online at http://www.asu.edu/china .

    The first Confucius Institute in the United States was
founded at the University of Maryland in partnership with
Nankai University, Tianjin, China, in November 2004.  As
outlined by the NOCFL, Confucius Institutes are devoted to
promoting the study of Chinese language and culture.  They
take a number of different forms and execute diverse
responsibilities, depending upon the needs of the region
and the institute's role at the host institution.  After a
pilot institute in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in June 2004, the
first Confucius Institute in the world was officially
opened in November 2004 in Seoul, Korea Oceania.


    For more information, please contact: 

    Carol Hughes
    Arizona State University
    Tel:   [phone]
    Email: [e-mail]