UT offers summer study-abroad program in China

February 17, 2009 | Events, UToday
By Jeffrey Romagni



The University of Toledo, in cooperation with Yanshan University, is offering students the opportunity to study-abroad this summer in China.

The program titled “A Rich Cultural Immersion Experience” will allow students to travel to various places in China and earn up to six transferable college credit hours.

Yanshan University

Yanshan University

Students will spend the first 16 days at Yanshan University in Qinhuangdao learning the Chinese language, culture and economic dynamics. The last week will take students to Xi’an and Beijing to learn and experience Chinese history.

The program will run from July 14 to Aug. 7.

The cost of the program, including tuition, round-trip airfare, local travel, accommodations and meals, is approximately $2,500.

“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that ‘Washington’s relationship with China will be the most important bilateral relationship in the world in this century,’” said Dr. Gene Chang, director of the Asian Studies Institute and professor of economics. “This is a wonderful opportunity for our UT students to be physically in China to study this relationship. It is an effective way to learn. Students will not only observe the true China with their eyes, but also learn its culture and history firsthand.

“In addition, I hope they will have a lot of fun and good food there. ”

Students will have the chance to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City in Beijing, the beach and port in Qinhuangdao, and Terracotta army in Xi’an, he added.

Officials from UT and Yanshan University signed a memorandum of understanding in 2007 to guide the formation of reciprocal campuses.

“UT and Yanshan are sister universities and both sides had a lot of exchanges and visits,”
Chang said. “The Asian Studies Institute and its counterpart at Yanshan University are working together to make this program possible. We plan to offer this on a regular basis. We want our students to be better-prepared to meet the globalization challenge in this century.”

Students can reduce their costs by applying for a travel grant from the Study-Abroad Program. Applications for the grant must be submitted by Friday, Feb. 20, to the Office of Study Abroad in Rocket Hall Room 1830 on Main Campus.

For more information or to apply, contact Chang at gene.chang@utoledo.edu or 419.530.4677 or Wenli Zhang, instructor in Chinese, at wenli.zhang@utoledo.edu or 419.509.0824.

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