TSU establishes Confucius Institute

Texas Southern University is in the process of setting up a Confucius Institute on its campus in partnership with China's Beijing Jiaotong University.

According to a press release, the institute will be the only one of its kind in Greater Houston and one of 42 Hanban-authorized institutes in the United States. Hanban is the Confucius Institute headquarters.

"Texas Southern students will be able to access and engage in many unique opportunities and activities provided by the Confucius Institute, and students will be able to access the international experience opportunities of its partner institution in China," TSU President Dr. John Rudley said in the release. "We are seeing an increased Asian enrollment at the university, and more importantly, there is an increased interest in all of our students for more academic opportunities in international programs."

The release also mentioned other options TSU offers for studying the culture and language of China, including the following courses or course studies being developed by the university's College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences: Asian/Chinese history, Chinese literature in translation, Texas' Chinese community, Chinese language and the study of international communities in Houston.

"At the base of Chinese language study are plans to establish courses on Chinese civilization, to
organize summer camps for local schools with Chinese themes and allow students the opportunity to participate in local multicultural activities before visiting China," Taylor said in the release, adding that "the plan also calls for the promotion of short-term overseas study and student scholarship programs to provide better opportunities for our students to learn Chinese language and culture. Simultaneously, we will work in cooperation with the other colleges at TSU, such as the College of Science and Technology and the Jesse H. Jones School of Business. Both TSU schools have ongoing communication with programs and universities in China."

In the long run, the release noted, the goal of the Confucius Institute is to provide various educational courses and programs for people of all ages that aim to raise awareness of and appreciation for the Asian community.

The Confucius Institute will be housed on the third floor of TSU's Martin Luther King Jr. Center of Humanities, located at 3100 Cleburne St., Suite 222, Houston. For more information, call 713-313-7740 or email info@soc.tsu.edu.