Newletter1999
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Newletter1999 |
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DIRECTOR’ MESSAGEGreetings for the Chinese New Year of the Dragon!Dear Members & Friends of the China Institute: We are entering the 21st Century with great expectations, after surviving the millennium bug, hangovers from millennium celebrations and the protest of millennium purists who say it’s still the last millennium. On the Chinese calendar, it is currently Year 4697 or the 17th year of the latest 60-year cycle: the Year of the Dragon. More than five millennia ago, Huang Di, China’s “Yellow Emperor,” is said to have invented the compass, cofounded Taoism, develped early principles of astronomy and, in 2637 B.C., established China’s calendar, which runs in 60-year cycles, each year named for a constellation and for one of 12 animals connected to the Chinese zodiac. The Year of the Dragon is known for its majestic spirit, courage, confidence, and strength. Those born in the years of the dragon are said to be strong leaders. As you can see from the information and stories presented in this newsletter, 1999 was an exceptionally productive and colorful year for the China Institute, thanks to your continued support and participation. Early in the spring, Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles, Mr. Wenbin An, delivered a significant address at CSUN on the “Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. China Relations in the 21st Century.” He told a packed audience and a full range of press representatives that in order for the U.S. and China to ease and smooth relations, the two countries must have mutual understanding and the two peoples must work together. CSUN is an excellent living example of how educators from the U.S. and China can work together towards common goals, and the China Institute, established in 1982, has played pivotal roles in all of the exchange programs between CSUN and China. In April, five talented women, Prof. Elizabeth Say, Prof. Wendy Wang, Prof. Judy Marlene, Prof. Yao Baoyong, and Angela Lew, and one insightful man, Prof. Elliot Mininberg, presented an informative and lively panel discussion on “Women in Chinese and American Societies.” At the beginning of the fall semester in 1999, the China Institute sponsored an art exhibition featuring 35 watercolor/ink paintings of a prominent Chinese artist , Mr. Hu Nan-Kai, from Guangzhou Academy of Painting. Both the exhibition and the artist lecture were warmly received by the campus and community visitors. Then later in the fall semester, the Theatre Department and the China Institute co-sponsored a special show and tell of CSUN theatre students’ experiences in staging the American musical, “Working,” in Shanghai in the summer of 1999. CSUN’s nationally renowned Jazz Band also went to Shanghai in the summer to participate in the International Jazz Festival and to perform at a gathering in our sister university, Shanghai Teachers University. In addition, many of CSUN’s faculty and staff visited China on various missions and collaborative projects. We received numerous Chinese educators and delegations on our campus and established new friendship and exchange programs with them. We have successfully completed two special training programs: the Educator Executive Training Program for a group of Chinese educational administrators, funded by the World Bank Loans administered by the Chinese National Ministry of Education, and the Trans-Century Leadership Training Program for a group of young and promising mid-level administrators from Guangzhou, funded by the Guangzhou Government. The scholars from these programs and many other individually designed study programs at CSUN have returned to China to assume important leadership and academic positions. In recognition of CSUN’s prominent role and contributions to the U.S.-China educational programs, the Chinese Government Scholarship Council has awarded a CSUN graduate student selected and recommended by the China Institute, Mr. Angus McNelis, a full scholarship for a one-year study at the renowned Beijing Film Academy. Meanwhile, the China Institute has granted a faculty development award to Prof. Victor Shaw, who conducted research studies on drug abuse and control in China. We are expecting to award two more grants for faculty research in China, and recommending two more eligible candidates to the Chinese Government Scholarship Council for studying in China later this year. You will find all the details on these and other items in our current newsletter. With warmest wishes for a very happy and healthy New Year and New Century! Justine Zhixin Su, Ph.D. Professor of Education Director, The China Institute |
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