Fall Semester Program in Chinese Environmental Studies
at Nanjing University

 

 

 

Introduction

 

China is facing an environmental crisis.

 

This fall semester program offers participants an opportunity to examine its causes, its effects and how China is responding. Participants will learn how the history, culture, economics and politics of contemporary China affect the local environment. They will investigate how Chinese institutions are adapting to the need for change by meeting with policy-makers and the public. Participants will leave with knowledge, understanding and experiences they can use to make a positive contribution to the future of U.S. – Chinese cooperation on environmental issues.

 

Classroom presentations and research assignments will be delivered by the faculty of Nanjing University, staff scientists from the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Engineering Science and policy experts from the Jiangsu Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau. Students will also travel throughout the region to meet with representatives from local, provincial and national environmental protection bureaus, Chinese and American non-governmental organizations, local enterprises, international corporations and experts from important research institutions in the region, including Fudan University, Zhejiang University, the Chinese Academy of Social Science and the Shanghai Institute for International Studies.

Host Institution: Nanjing University

Consistently ranked among China's top five universities, Nanjing University offers students the opportunity to get a cosmopolitan education in a provincial capital. Founded in 1902 Nanjing University is composed of 21 reserach institutes and 59 departments offering 78 undergraduate majors, 213 masters degree programs and 147 doctoral degree programs. Their Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, home to one of the university's six key national laboratories, produced most of the leading environmental experts in the region and conducts environmental monitoring and analysis for provincial, national and international governments and organzations.

Curriculum (4 Courses)

 

History of the Lower Yangtze (45 contact hours)

 

This course focuses on the history and culture of the region, which includes southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, southeastern Anhui and the city of Shanghai. Students will learn why the city of Nanjing is known as one of China’s Four Great Ancient Capitals. They will learn how the city of Suzhou became a commercial center during the Ming period and why it remains an important center of modern Chinese industry. They will explore the gardens of Yangzhou, the tea plantations near Hangzhou’s West Lake, the winding alleys of Lu Xun’s Shaoxing, the Buddhist monastery of Putuoshan, the Taoist academy on Maoshan, the imposing peaks of Huangshan and the cosmopolitan commercial center of Shanghai. Throughout, the course will connect the experience of history and culture to the question of how both shaped the economy and ecology of the region.

Economy of the Yangtze Delta (45 contact hours)

This course focuses on regional economic activity, the role it plays in national development, and its connections to the global economy. Students will visit textile mills that supply Wal-Mart, toy factories that supply Mattel, and the executive offices of Nike’s headquarters in Shanghai. They will review economic data and discuss Chinese economic policy with academic experts and local government officials. They will meet with farmers, laborers, bankers, entrepreneurs, and public employees. Like the rest of the program, this course is designed to make optimal use of their presence in China to help students acquire a first-hand and objective understanding of the region.

Yangtze Delta Environment (45 contact hours)

 

This course integrates a history of the interaction between the people of the Lower Yangtze and their natural surroundings with a detailed scientific assessment of the current state of the environment. It uses opportunities for personal observation and interaction to give students an intimate awareness of the personal impacts of China's growing environmental crisis. Students will collect and analyze data under the supervision of researchers from the Jiangsu Academy of Engineering Science. They will visit organic farms on the banks of Lake Tai. They will meet with local environmental groups, and visit cooperative projects funded by international environmental organizations including Greenpeace, the National Resources Defense Council and the Earth Policy Institute. They will look at waste-water treatment facilities, chemical plants, textile factories and emerging Chinese eco-tech companies. They will discuss all they’ve learned with officials from the Jiangsu Environmental Protection Bureau, who will explain Chinese environmental policy and their expectations for the future.

Intensive Chinese Language (150 contact hours)

 

Intensive Chinese language instruction is offered to students at the beginning and intermediate levels according to guidelines and using texts and materials approved by the China National Office of Chinese Language Instruction. All language faculty are accredited teachers of Chinese as a Second Language at Nanjing University. Participants will complete the equivalent of a full-year of instruction at most U.S. colleges and universities during their semester in China.

 

Students will be assigned to one of several sections: one for those without any prior language study, others for students with one or two years of prior Chinese language instruction. A comprehensive language examination will be given to students with prior language instruction to determine placement. Special arrangements, individual instruction, or an independent study course can be made available to students with an advanced level of Chinese.

Comprehensive Program Fee

The comprehensive program fee for the Fall Semester Program in Environmental Studies at Nanjing University is $12,828.00. The fee includes tuition, books, university fees, room, meals, all excursions, visa fees, orientation materials, and airport pickup. The comprehensive fee does not include international airfare.