February 12, 1999 Calvin College Chimes

New semester program invites students East By Melissa Slager Features Editor The Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. Traditional, modern and emerging. Newest off-campus program available to students next fall photo courtesy Ellen Monsma All of these are key words describe China, while the latter three also provide a three-fold focus to the Study in China program available to Calvin students for the first time this fall through Off-Campus Programs. As the philosophy of the Study in China program states, students will be able to “observe and participate in a society that barely tolerates Christianity and proclaims a totalitarian worldview.” Students will take four courses, three taught by the program’s director and a language course with a Chinese student mentor. The three main foci of the program include studies on “Traditional Chinese Civilization,” “Modern China” and “Emerging China.” The courses will be approached historically, but will also look at “religious and philosophical underpinnings,” the relationship of China to the West and the issues surrounding contemporary China. “It is very focused on one topic at a time,” said Director of Off-Campus Programs Frank Roberts, noting that each of the three courses taught by the director are taken one at a time, while the language course is continuous across the semester. Roberts also said that American students will get to know Chinese students better by learning the Chinese language from them. The program will be directed by Prof. Kurt Selles, who Roberts stated is “very gifted” and has taught in China since 1993 at both the University of Peking and the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), where the program will take place. The program is limited to 18 students, and eligibility requires at least sophomore status and a GPA of at least 2.5. “In a sense, they’re going to China for less than what it would cost to live on campus … or at least comparable,” said Roberts. Roberts said that students do not need prior knowledge of the Chinese language to enroll in this program. The cost of the program is $9,400, which includes tuition, housing in a BIT dorm, food allowance, excursions, an administrative fee and round trip airfare from Grand Rapids. “In a sense, they’re going to China for less than what it would cost to live on campus … or at least comparable,” said Roberts. The deadline to enroll in the Study in China program is April 1, although Roberts encourages students to act early, especially if they do not have passports. Visas will be arranged through BIT, “but it doesn’t happen overnight,” said Roberts. Roberts stated that the Study in China program is part of the Calvin five-year strategic plan that involved a “commitment on the part of the college to setting up a program in East Asia.” This commitment was narrowed to China, and then focused to Beijing. Brochures, preliminary applications and additional information are available at Off-Campus Programs in Hiemenga 323.