The Confucius Institute Keeps the Far East Close to Home

By Justin Lafreniere

The Confucius statue on the Fairfax Campus. Creative Services photo

The Confucius statue on the Fairfax Campus. Creative Services photo

George Mason University’s Confucius Institute has been renewed by the Office of Chinese Language Council International, or Hanban, and the Beijing Language and Culture University (BCLU). The new contract will extend to 2019.

Since 2004, the Confucius Institute has opened in nearly 400 locations in almost 100 countries, serving as many as 100 million people. In the spring of 2009, George Mason was the first university in Virginia to establish a Confucius Institute.

The institute provides day and evening classes in Chinese language and culture, activities, outreach, teacher training and scholarship opportunities, including classes oriented for business students and workers in the community. The institute works in conjunction with the Mason Enterprise Center and the Virginia Department of Commerce to help small businesses.

By supporting the study of Chinese language and culture, the Confucius Institute helps prepare Mason students for an increasingly globalized world. Its comprehensive scholarship opportunities cover tuition, room and board, and various other expenses while students study at a Chinese university. These scholarships are not limited to the Mason community and are partnered through the BCLU and the Chinese Embassy. Eight teachers from BCLU teach at Mason.

“We provide a global experience for students to not only visit China, but to experience China here at Mason,” says Qing Gao, director of the Confucius Institute. “We work with a variety of academic and administrative offices and institutions on and off campus to enhance the studies and teaching effort of Chinese language and culture.”

In addition, a new program, Traveling Trunks, provides an exhibition of artifacts to area schools and assists in the institute’s outreach to local school systems. The entire collection was recently digitized and expanded in conjunction with the Hanban. Local schools have used Traveling Trunks as a way to introduce Chinese culture to students as they prepare for the Virginia Standards of Learning state exams, which require a level of understanding of Chinese history, culture and influence.

On-campus events sponsored by the institute range from visual and performing to literary arts, and include activities such as scroll-making, poetry readings and a Chinese New Year celebration. Upcoming events for the Confucius Institute include the following:

Other events, such as cultural workshops and language buddy sessions, are held on multiple days during the semester and can be found online.

The Confucius Institute also seeks to assist faculty at Mason who encourage the study of Chinese language and culture in their classes, with grants to faculty members who incorporate it into their curriculum. Currently, 10 courses include some aspect of Chinese culture, from nutrition to printmaking to history.

A Chinese New Year celebration and anniversary events to commemorate the Confucius Institute’s fifth year at Mason are planned for 2014.