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College renews exchange agreement with East China University

mjc
November 22, 2000

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? St. Olaf College has renewed its 16-year-old academic exchange agreement with East China Normal University of Shanghai, China.

The new agreement formalizes relations between the two institutions for the next five years, allowing St. Olaf students and professors from six international studies programs to visit Shanghai and take classes at ECNU, and providing for St. Olaf to host visiting ECNU scholars annually.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Martin E. Marty, interim president of St. Olaf College, and Dr. Wang Jianpan, president of ECNU, during a recent visit to St. Olaf by ECNU officials.

East China Normal University is St. Olaf College?s second-oldest international exchange partner. Exchange agreements are essential to successful international studies programs such as St. Olaf College?s; they benefit students and faculty members at each school, as well as citizens in both countries.

Students in the college?s semester-long Term in China program study Chinese language and take other courses at East China Normal University. St. Olaf students in the Global Semester and Term in Asia programs also study in Shanghai, with ECNU professors leading tours of historic and cultural sites. Students in a January Economics Interim course live in Shanghai, and students in a new St. Olaf interim course, National Identity in China and Japan, study for part of the month at East China Normal University. A program called China Fellows allows three to four St. Olaf graduates each year to teach English as faculty members at ECNU.

ECNU professors who come to St. Olaf through the Visiting Scholar program learn about American pedagogy, language and culture, and when they return to China become excellent resources for Chinese students who want to study about America. In Shanghai each scholar also teaches a course for St. Olaf students enrolled in the Term in China international studies program.

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Two ECNU professors, English faculty member Liu Sen and Wu Ruijun of the University?s Population Research Institute, are St. Olaf Visiting Scholars. Last year St. Olaf hosted ECNU English Prof. Liang Chaoqun and mathematics Prof. Lin Lei. Both conducted research in their respective fields in Northfield and other Midwest communities. Lei is collaborating with St. Olaf mathematics faculty member Paul Zorn on publication of a research paper, and Zorn plans to go to China soon to continue the study.

International exchange agreements are at the core of St. Olaf College?s internationalization efforts, according to Patrick Quade, director of the International and Off-Campus Studies Office, because they encourage academic and cultural interchange.

Students who participate in such international studies programs "exemplify the best in cultural immersion," Quade points out.

While some foreign study programs isolate students from residents of the host country, exchange agreement programs let students immerse themselves in the culture and life of the exchange institution. Exchange students eat, sleep, study, relax and absorb life in the same way as students in the host country, gaining perceptions, understanding, acceptance and respect for other people based on real interaction with the new culture.

"The result is not a superficial snapshot of another culture," Quade said, "but a level of human understanding that gets to the political, economic, social, religious and behavioral roots of the individuals."

Visiting scholar exchanges provide faculty members with a high degree of professional development through research and discussions with colleagues in similar disciplines. Such contacts increase mutual respect and expand the knowledge of scholars and artists from both sides.

Exchange agreements help make St. Olaf a national leader in international studies. A remarkably high percentage of St. Olaf College students study abroad, according to the latest Institute of International Education "Open Doors" report. One in five St. Olaf students study abroad each year, and by the time they graduate 88 percent have participated in an international or off-campus study program.

St. Olaf offers more than 115 interim, one-semester, five-month, or full-year academic programs in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, North, South and Central America, and Oceania. St. Olaf has ranked first in international studies participation for many years.

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St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty of approximately 256. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today."

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.