 "Photo: Photo Illustration by Nick Kneer/ IC")
The Asian Studies Institute and University Studies Abroad Consortium are offering students at the University of Toledo the opportunity to study abroad in China during the summer semesters.
The Confucius Institute will provide travel funds and scholarships to help support students in any major who are interested in studying in China, according to Aige Guo, interim director of global initiatives and director of the CI.
Students who take the study abroad opportunity will attend Yahshan University in Qinhuangdao, China, the partner university for UT’s Confucius Institute.
Students in the study abroad program will stay in China from July 12 until Aug. 6, and the CI will offer scholarships to cover approximately half the cost of the $2,300 trip, according to Guo.
“Our goal at the Confucius Institute is to promote the Chinese language and the culture, and help with the overall exchange and to connect UT to other parts of the world, bring scholars and students to our side and also send them out,” Guo said.
The Confucius Institute Scholarship is available for students who want to study in China for academic credit for one semester or one academic year, Guo said.
The scholarship provides a one-time settlement subsidy of 1,500 Chinese Yuan, which is approximately $225 in U.S. currency. A monthly allowance is also provided ranging from 1,400 CNY, or $210, to 2,000 CNY, or $300, depending on the degree the student is pursuing, Guo said.
The scholarship covers student registration fees, tuition fees and fees for basic learning materials and accommodations on campus and includes a comprehensive medical insurance plan, according to Guo.
According to the Asian Studies Institute Web site, the trip will be worth six transferable credit hours and includes round-trip airfare, and will give students the opportunity to travel to the Great Wall of China, the Palace Museum and the Terra Cotta Warriors, as well as the cities of Xi’an and Beijing.
Students can also spend only a few weeks in China and have their expenses partially funded by the CI scholarship or the CI China Study Fund.
The Confucius Institute China Study Funds is aid provided for short-term study in China offering a subsidiary of $65 per day, Guo said.
USAC’s Chinese programs include two sets of five-week sessions in Chengdu and Shanghai from May 21 to July 3 and June 27 to August 8, according to the USAC 2010 Summer Program brochure.
The sessions include various field trips across the country as well as language-intensive courses in Chinese Studies and International Relations.
“The world is one in which the kind of skills that employees are looking for requires them to think about the rest of the world,” said Global Studies Advisor Mark Denham.
Denham said he encourages students of all majors to consider Global Studies as an addition to their academic career.
“The main goal of Global Studies is to provide an interdisciplinary major that focuses on things that are of global concern and that are of concern of the students,” he said.
About 20 percent of the students in the Global Studies Department study aboard and most want to go back after they have been immersed in a new culture, Denham said.
“It changes peoples’ life and their perspective,” he said.
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