EDMOND — The University of Central Oklahoma had the grand opening for its new Confucius Classroom, a classroom dedicated to Chinese learning, Oct. 21 in the Pegasus Theater, located in Central’s Liberal Arts Building, with a lecture on U.S.–China relations from world-renowned Confucian scholar and author Henry Rosemont Jr.
Rosemont’s lecture titled, “The U.S. and China: Who Threatens Whom?” detailed what he believes is the United States’ responsibility for initiating a new relationship with China.
Central’s new Confucius Classroom, in room 117 of the Liberal Arts building, will be the first off-site classroom in Oklahoma for the Confucius Institute at the University of Oklahoma, one of 314 institutes in 81 countries and regions.
“Having a Confucius Classroom on our campus will highlight and enhance our efforts to produce globally competent students. Partnering with OU will enable us to have access to even broader resources for our students,” said Pam Washington, dean of Liberal Arts administration.
Washington and Dr. William Radke, Central’s Provost and vice president for Academic Affairs traveled to Beijing, China in the summer to meet with leaders at the Confucius Institute Headquarters and Hanban, the executive body of the Chinese Language Council International, a non-governmental and non-profit organization affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China.
“Our trip to China to meet with Hanban helped to reinforce Central’s commitment to providing Chinese language, culture and instruction to our students. This new partnership seems natural after our long time association with the ABC Chinese School,” said Washington.
The Confucius Institute is a non-profit institution, established to promote the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language and for different exchanges and co-operations in educational and cultural fields with the world.
Central’s Confucius Classroom will offer Chinese language instruction; train Chinese language instructors and provide Chinese language teaching resources; provide information and consultative services concerning China’s education and culture; and conduct language and cultural exchange activities between China and the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
Central adjunct Liberal Arts faculty members Yajun Zhang and Xiaoxiao Li will teach the Chinese language classes in the Confucius Classroom, and all Confucius classes are credited and listed in Central’s course offerings.
The classroom is open to the public as well as Central students, staff and faculty.
Multimedia courseware and other teaching materials, supplementary materials and audio-visual materials authorized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters will be provided by OU’s Confucius Institute, and 1,000 books have been donated by Hanban.
For more information, contact Dr. Xiaobing Li, Central’s Confucius Classroom director, at 974-5483 or bli@uco.edu.
University Life
UCO to open ‘Confucius Classroom’
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