Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin

Monday, April 22, 2013

Columbia opens Confucius Institute

By Caroline Berg in New York

China Daily  2013-04-10

More than a century of relations between Columbia University and China were highlighted in a ceremony inaugurating the opening of the Confucius Institute at the New York school.

Columbia's ties with China began in the 1870s, and some of the first Chinese students to study in the US were at the Ivy League school, Lee Bollinger, president of the university, said yesterday in remarks at the ceremony.

"The Confucius Institute will help further expand Columbia's scholarly engagement with China," Bollinger said at the event in the Faculty Room at Columbia's Low Memorial Library, which has a gallery of ancient Chinese artifacts spanning six dynasties.

Beijing-based Renmin University of China will collaborate with Columbia on the institute's programs. The two universities first formed an academic partnership in 2008.

"It will be a research-oriented partnership, which aims to advance our understanding concerning teaching Chinese as a second language and also Chinese culture in modern China," Bollinger said.
The ceremony included remarks by Xu Lin, director-general of Hanban and chief executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters; Chen Yulu, president of Renmin University; Dong Xiaojun, acting consul general of China in New York; and Robert Hymes, chair of Columbia's Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.

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