New Chinese, Global Education Center Launched at SDSU
The new Chinese Cultural Center, sponsored by the College of Education, will support the universitys expanded priorities around binational and global education.
San Diego State University is launching a new Chinese Cultural Center, which will support Chinese cultural education as well as the university’s expanded focus on international and binational awareness, education and partnerships.
The newly launched center, approved this month, will be sponsored by the College of Education to support cultural, historical, linguistic, artistic and political knowledge and awareness of China and the broader Asia Pacific Region.
“The new center complements the university’s decade-long history of research and inquiry into what is one of the most powerful countries in the world,” said Y. Barry Chung, dean of the College of Education, noting the university's Center for Asian And Pacific Studies and Department of Linguistics and Asian/Middle Eastern Languages.
This follows the closure and transfer of the Confucius Institute at SDSU earlier this summer, as reported in the Los Angeles Times last month. SDSU closed and transferred the institute on June 30, 2019 to San Diego Global Knowledge University. With the transfer, the education initiatives and services once offered by the institute when it was held at SDSU will be offered by the San Diego Global Knowledge University. The university is no longer affiliated with nor receiving funding from Hanban/Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing.
“Despite the institute’s closure, SDSU remains committed to continuing efforts that support education, research, awareness and mutual understanding in and with international communities, to include China,” said scholar Li-Rong Lilly Cheng, who will help lead the new center. Cheng also confirmed that the artifacts donated to the university over the years would be retained.
The launch of the Chinese Cultural Center is part of a revival effort intended to reintroduce a center similar to the one previously held at SDSU: the Chinese Studies Institute. Established in the 1990s, the institute created opportunities for academic exchanges between SDSU and those from China. The center sponsored visiting scholars, hosted lecture series and exhibitions, promoted collaborative research, and more. The new Chinese Cultural Center will offer similar programming, and provide a physical space to host campus programs and for gathering.
“As it has long been, SDSU remains deeply committed to its Chinese students, faculty and staff and in advancing education and awareness of China and Chinese culture,” said Glen McClish, interim dean of the College of Arts and Letters.
“SDSU is investing in international recruitment and has a growing emphasis on binationalism and globalism -- all through its commitment to training students toward global citizenship and to be well-suited to both serve and lead in the global economy,” McClish said. “While this is a growing priority, it is one that will undoubtedly hold value and importance for generations.”
