Premier Institute for Teaching Chinese Language, Culture Opens at IUPUI
IUPUI Chancellor Charles R. Bantz today called the grand opening of The Confucius Institute, Indiana's premier institute for teaching Chinese language and culture, at IUPUI "a day of many thanks and celebrations."
That sentiment was echoed by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, who said, "This is a great day in the City of Indianapolis." The mayor said his goal is to develop a stronger, more powerful international presence in the city, and the "Confucius Institute could not be more in line with what I envision for the city."
IU Vice President and Dean of the IU School of Medicine Craig Brater spoke of the personal excitement he feels about the relationship embodied in the institute. Noting that it is easy to develop paper partnerships that look nice on pieces of parchment, but turn out not to have any depth to them, Brater said, "It is clear that will not be the case with this relationship."
An opening ceremony was held at 1:00 p.m. on April 25, 2008 in Lecture Hall 102. In addition to Bantz, Ballard and Brater, Sun Yat-Sen University President Daren Huang also spoke.
The opening ceremony was followed by a symposium on China's significance in the twenty-first century.
Dr. Tu Weiming, Director of Harvard University's Yenching Institute, delivered the keynote address at the symposium. A world renowned Confucian scholar, Dr. Tu's current research focus is in interpreting Confucian ethics as a spiritual resource for the emerging global community. He is the author of many publications in Chinese and English, including, "Neo-Confucian Thought in Action"; "Centrality and Commonality"; "Humanity and Self-Cultivation"; and "Confucian Thought."
Plans for the Confucius Institute in Indianapolis were announced in 2007 to promote the teaching of Chinese language and culture and facilitate mutual understanding between the peoples of China and United States.
Among a wide range of upcoming activities is a Confucius Institute summer camp for children, ages 5-13, that will feature six instructors from China teaching language and other aspects of Chinese culture, singing and dancing, and martial arts. Other institute activities will include non-credit continuing education classes on Chinese civilization; class on Chinese tourism, including a language component; a Chinese cooking class; and Chinese martial arts class.
The Chinese government announced in May 2007 it would place a Confucius Institute at IUPUI, providing, among other things, short term training opportunities for central Indiana companies who wish to do business in China or expand their operations there. IUPUI is among a select group of universities that is partnering with Sun Yat-Sen University in China in hosting Confucius Institutes.
The Confucius Institute at IUPUI is a major resource for developing networks with China. Part of a major initiative by the Chinese government, the institute will receive substantial funding from China as well as receive visiting language instructors from China.
Many local organizations have already expressed enthusiasm for collaborating with the Confucius Institute at Indianapolis, including the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, the International Center of Indianapolis, the three Chinese language schools in the city, WFYI, the Indianapolis Museum of Art; the Indiana State Department of Education; the Indiana Economic Development Corporation; Eli Lilly and Company, and the legal firm of Baker and Daniels.
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