Two deans view Cornell's strengthening academic ties with China

By Larry Klaes

Cornell has greatly expanded its global educational ties with the recent trip to China by President Jeffrey S. Lehman and other university administrators.

In Beijing on Nov. 8, Lehman and W. Kent Fuchs, dean of the College of Engineering, signed an agreement with the president of Tsinghua University to collaborate in research, the exchange of faculty members and students and the joint commercialization of intellectual property.

For years Cornell and Tsinghua have been exchanging graduate students in the field of engineering. "Tsinghua and Cornell will now exchange faculty members and undergraduate students to strengthen teaching and research in engineering," said Fuchs.

In addition to the student exchange, Fuchs said, the two institutions agreed to share faculty and participate in workshops on areas of joint interest such as nanoscience and nanotechnology, information science, biomedical research, energy and the environment.

While at Tsinghua, Fuchs and G. Peter Lepage, dean of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, gave a seminar on research excellence in engineering and science at Cornell.

What does Cornell hope to see from this collaboration in the future? "I would like to see a growing number of Cornell engineering students study and work in China and for an increasing number of Chinese students and faculty to study and collaborate with Cornell's College of Engineering," said Fuchs.

On Nov. 9, Lehman and Lepage visited Peking University and signed an agreement offering an intensive undergraduate major in China and Asia-Pacific Studies (CAPS). Cornell students will receive rigorous language training on campus, explore China-related topics in Washington, D.C., and spend a senior year semester in Beijing studying alongside Chinese students to develop a deep understanding of China's culture, politics and foreign relations.

"This major is unique in the U.S. in several ways," said Lepage. "While opportunities to study abroad for a semester are common, our new major is unusual in the extensive language preparation that precedes the semester abroad. The strong language component of this major is possible because Cornell, unlike other institutions, offers intensive Chinese language teaching year-round through our FALCON [Full-year Asian Language Concentration] program.

"Another unusual feature of our program is that the courses offered in Beijing will be advanced courses designed specifically for Cornell majors and taking full advantage of their extensive preparation."

Lepage noted, "Our focus on undergraduate education is also unusual: The new undergraduate major is the heart of our program."

Students in the CAPS major will study Mandarin Chinese for three years before their Beijing semester in their senior year.

Sherman G. Cochran, Cornell Hu Shih Professor of Chinese History and Director of the CAPS program, said that while in Beijing, the students will take courses in Chinese history, politics and foreign relations, in Chinese, from a Chinese professor at Peking University.

"Students graduating from this major will have superb training in Chinese domestic issues and international relations," said Lepage.

"With this skill set, the 20 or so students who graduate from this program each year will be a precious resource for the U.S. government and for other U.S. institutions and companies that must deal with the explosive growth of China and its importance in the world," he said.