ASU partners many of the top Chinese universities, as well as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Science and Technology, to promote language, innovation, business leadership, sustainability, tourism and creativity in education at a global scale.
At Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, you might see students wearing Arizona State University T-shirts, and listening to guest lectures from ASU professors on American culture, history and literature. In Phoenix, more than 4,000 Chinese students attend ASU, which has a long standing tradition of close faculty connections and friendships, built through years of collaborative research with Chinese colleagues.
Although the histories of ASU and China differ, there is a shared belief that universities are transformational forces in society. ASU has experts that dominate in many areas, such as migration, pollution, climate change, energy and health care, all with global ramifications; however, it is the connectivity across borders and cultures that is essential to creating a positive difference in society and developing the problem-solving capacity to face the emerging challenges of the 21st century.
Through our relationships with China and the Chinese people, ASU hopes to promote cross-cultural communication, interdisciplinary study and engagement, educational internationalization, entrepreneurship, and social and economic development locally and abroad.
American Centers for Cultural Exchange
American Centers for Cultural Exchange or ACCEX is a bilateral network of partnerships between 18 Chinese and 15 American universities which helps to broaden mutual understandings through innovative cultural exchanges and academic collaborations. The ACCEX network facilitates shared resources among its 18 different American cultural centers, including cooperative programs, the exchange of ideas, and funding opportunities. ACCEX is funded by the U.S. State Department, and sponsored by organizations such as Ford Foundation and Intel.
American Experience Initiative
The American Experience Initiative is a multi-platform collaborative model for education and engagement to build greater cultural understanding between American and Chinese universities. The initiative aims to enhance Chinese knowledge of American society and culture by broadening the curriculum and resources available to students, faculty, business executives and the general public. Chinese faculty develop multidisciplinary modules on American culture, society, religion, and more—broadening the scope of existing American studies curriculum while improving their pedagogical methods and creating more impactful courses. This initiative, funded by the Luce Foundation, will result in a digital sharing network for higher education scholars.
ASU Joint International Tourism College
ASU offers three dual undergraduate degrees through a new tourism college on the campus of Hainan Univeristy, a top-tier college in China. The program is led by Kathleen Andereck, director of the School of Community Resources and Development. In fall 2017, 253 freshman from China started their academic year. Students' ASU degrees will be paired with Hainan degrees. This college gives ASU a physical presence in China, where the university already has many partnerships.
Biodesign Center China
Arizona State University and China’s Shandong University established a joint Biodesign Center, in Qingdao, to focus on cancer and vaccine research, water and air purification systems and advanced explorations of nanotechnology. The joint venture is modeled after ASU’s Biodesign Institute in Tempe, will develop solutions by studying the natural world’s engineering and bioscience.
Center for American Culture
Established to create greater cross-cultural understanding between China and the United States, the Center for American Culture was designed to reach the next generation of Chinese leaders at one of the largest universities in China. The center focuses on the humanities, language, religion and other academic disciplines and building university-to-university partnerships for the study of American topics. Along with Chinese students, faculty and students from ASU, business and nonprofit leaders, artists and U.S. citizens explore what it means to be American.
Chinese Language Flagship Program
ASU's Chinese Language Flagship Program students achieve a superior level of proficiency in Mandarin Chinese while strengthening pre-professional development in their chosen fields of study. Chinese Flagship and Flagship-ROTC programs are rigorous, honors-level undergraduate programs of study designed to create global professionals who can work bilingually and bi-culturally in the U.S. and the Chinese-speaking world. Student studies include a capstone year in China and offer a path toward careers in government, education, the private sector and non-profit organizations.
Confucius Institute
Jointly established by Sichuan University and the Ministry of Education in 2007, the Confucius Institute at ASU is a source of knowledge about Chinese language and culture for Arizona residents. Located on the Tempe campus, its staff trains about 600 teachers each year, hosts summer programs including Startalk Chinese Language Summer Camp for 8-12th grade students and Hanban Chinese Bridge Summer Camp for 9-12th graders, and offers lectures, conferences, faculty exchanges and cultural activities. The institute funds 11 Confucius classrooms in Arizona school districts, including the state’s first public school Mandarin immersion programs. More than 3,200 elementary, middle and high school students have participated.
InterAsia Program
ASU's Social Science Research Council's InterAsia program and partnerships have built international and interdisciplinary scholars’ networks, transformed scholarly approaches and research agendas, and promoted the development of innovative comparisons on a number of cross-regional and transregional themes. Fellowships are also provided for Transregional Research Junior Scholars.
Sichuan University Language Programs
The School of International Letters and Cultures’ study abroad programs are among the longest-running and most prestigious at ASU. Founded in 1981 and directed by knowledgeable, world-class faculty, the programs offer students the opportunity to experience and study international humanities and learn languages firsthand while earning credit toward their degree. Sichuan University hosts a summer Chinese language program and more extensive study abroad experiences. The summer program is particularly unique in that students, supervised by the school's faculty of Chinese, complete one full academic year of Chinese language coursework in just eight weeks.
W. P. Carey School of Business Executive Programs
W. P. Carey School of Business offers three degree programs, and an executive education certificate designed to cultivate world-class executives in China and advance the Sino-U.S. trade relationship through education. These degree programs include the W. P. Carey Executive MBA in Shanghai, the Master of Science in Management (MiM), offered in partnership with the Shanghai National Accounting Institute (SNAI), and the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in Global Financial Management, developed in collaboration with the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF). The ASU business school also has other programs in China, including a partnerships with Motorola launched in 1999,
