Year of China Relies on Campus Collaboration

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 25, 2011) — A year-long, campuswide initiative is as difficult to plan, organize and carry out as it sounds. While the College of Arts & Sciences is the focal point of University of Kentucky's Year of China: Awaken the Past, Discover the Future, the project has relied on support from throughout campus in realizing its potential.

"We live in an increasingly global society, and we've thought a lot about how to make this more real for students in our college," said College of Arts & Sciences Dean Mark Lawrence Kornbluh. "We want to send students all over the world, but we want to bring the world to Lexington as well. In order to achieve this, we've partnered throughout the university to put on the Year of China."

"Our courses and events are open to anyone on campus," added Keiko Tanaka, director of the UK Asia Center, associate professor of sociology and faculty director of the China initiative. "We'll be covering a wide variety of topics throughout the year, from China’s role in global food security and the efficacy of Chinese medicine to China’s diverse cultural traditions and human rights challenges."

Andrew Kimbrough, associate professor of theatre studies & performance at UK, began working on Year of China programming through the College of Fine Arts' Asian Arts Initiative, as well as UK's annual ArtsAsia Festival.

"When we met last year and heard about the Year of China from our colleagues in A&S, we saw it as a fortuitous moment to cross-list, co-sponsor and promote events for both the Year of China and ArtsAsia," Kimbrough said. "Faculty, staff and students uniting from across campus creates a home-like bond that is often missing on a large campus. It’s hard to do, but the benefits are tremendous."

In collaboration with the ArtsAsia Festival and the Year of China, the Department of Theatre presented "The Monkey King" from Oct. 6-16.

"The production incorporated many Chinese theatrical techniques, so it was a great learning experience for the theatre students, and we trust it was a treat for the audiences," Kimbrough said.

UK Libraries Director of International Programs Toni Greider began seriously thinking about the Year of China last April when she had two visiting Chinese scholars in the library.

University Libraries serves the entire campus and has a unique opportunity to collaborate, said Greider.

UK subject librarians work closely with their respective units, University Archives preserves the campus history and the William T. Young Library provides a space for interaction by faculty and students from all areas of campus.

"This was an initiative that was a good match for what we have to offer," she said. "What makes it unique is the blending of classes focusing on China along with cultural events and public venues. This blending of the academic with the extracurricular makes these types of initiatives more integrated into the campus community." 

UK Libraries has quite an ambitious Year of China agenda, from exhibits of Chinese literature, instruments and video, to presentations on Chinese medicine and an electronic research guide for beginning research on China.  

The UK Confucius Institute has also been a major factor in the Year of China through event sponsorship, but also in furthering UK and Central Kentucky's links to China.

"We play a role in helping UK colleges and departments form ties to Chinese universities," said Confucius Institute Director Huajing Maske. "In working with the College of Arts & Sciences on partnerships between Shanghai and Jilin Universities, we were present from the beginning; the mission of UK's Confucius Institute directly aligns with the Year of China. We want to open students' eyes."

The UK Confucius Institute is a center for Chinese language and arts, offering classes, teacher training and public events and services to the campus and community, in addition to providing study abroad assistance and expanding China-UK connections.

Maske sees the intercollegial efforts of the Year of China as especially important. "This is an impressively, ambitious undertaking," she said. "You have more resources, more noise and more momentum to really make an impact campuswide."

Additional Year of China participants and sponsors include the Asia Center, the College of Education, the College of Agriculture, the UK Book Store, and the College of Medicine.

"The Year of China: Awakening the Past, Discovering the Future" includes an entire year of lectures, activities and events related to China from throughout UK's campus designed to introduce the study of China to students, faculty, staff and the community.

For more information on the Year of China, please contact Tanaka at ktanaka@email.uky.edu or visit the Year of China website at http://china.as.uky.edu/.