The State of University-Level Education Programs in China

A Group Project for CAPS 4030

Amanda Williams

Cole DeVoy

Sarah Harris

Max Alaghband

Matt McGee

Cornell University

China & Asia Pacific Studies

May 2017

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2

2. Semester Abroad Programs by Max Alaghband 3

3. Branch Campuses and Joint Institutes by Amanda Williams 9

4. Chinese-operated Graduate Programs by Cole DeVoy 13

5. Intensive Language Programs by Sarah Harris & Matt McGee 17

6. Conclusion 22

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Introduction

As Cornell’s China and Asia-Pacific Studies (CAPS) program moves forward after cele-

brating its milestone tenth anniversary and looks to the years ahead, it is imperative that we take

full advantage of the vibrant community of China scholars which surrounds us. Although CAPS

is a unique program offering a combination of opportunities, world-renowned faculty, and a rig-

orous, expansive curriculum, there is still a broader community at hand from which we have much

to learn. This community of China hands and China-focused programs is at once an opportunity

for growth and a call for self-reflection. Within it are similarities and differences, lessons and

mistakes, as well as examples of excellent scholarship, vigor, and well-roundedness. As such, in

an analysis of the programs that constitute this community, an important learning opportunity

emerges which ought not be ignored. In the following pages, the authors will share examinations

of peer university programs, stand-alone schools, Chinese-operated and foreigner-oriented gradu-

ate programs, and programs for intensive Chinese language study. From these analyses, a number

of suggestions will be put forward, and it is our hope that these suggestions will be heard and

implemented. In other words, as graduating seniors in the Class of 2017, we now take our turn

“feeling for stones.”

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Semester Abroad Programs

Introduction

Though CAPS is not a traditional study abroad program, other semester abroad programs

can serve as models to improve the Beijing semester experience and draw more students into the

program (as minors at the very least). Compared to other Ivy League schools, Cornell is unique in

being one of two universities that directly administers a study abroad program in China. Apart

from Dartmouth, which administers a program on Beijing Normal University’s campus, other Ivy

League schools either rely on outside programs (such as CET) or have students enroll directly at

schools like Peking University and Tsinghua University as international students (as is the case at

the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University). I have drawn information from univer-

sity programs based in Beijing at Dartmouth, Columbia, Syracuse University, the University of

Chicago, and Stanford University, as well as from CET’s program in Shanghai, which more closely

resembles the CAPS program than CET’s other programs (the others are mostly intensive language

study).

Curriculum

The courses taken at Peking University allow CAPS students to learn about China’s inter-

nal developments and relationship with the world through a Chinese lens. While rewarding, op-

portunities for engagement with domestic students were slim and examining other programs’ cur-

ricula may serve useful.

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Faculty-in-Residence: Stanford, UChicago, Dartmouth, and Syracuse bring faculty to their Chi-

nese host institutions to teach core courses. In the case of Stanford, having a professor from Stan-

ford teach a course seemed to attract more domestic Chinese students than our course with Profes-

sor Chen, a PKU professor. Additionally, Stanford students cited the presence of Stanford faculty

as a core strength of Stanford’s program, as it ensured that quality and pedagogy met the standards

of their home institution. Having a Cornell professor teach a course open to PKU students may

attract more domestic students and thus allow CAPS students more opportunities to engage with

Chinese students. Maybe co-teaching a course with a PKU professor would allow CAPS students

to better engage with domestic students while still gaining exposure to Chinese pedagogy and

perspectives, core strengths of the current curricular arrangement.

Access to University Courses: CAPS restricts students to courses within the School of International

Studies, while Stanford, Syracuse, and Columbia allow students to enroll in any course offered by

the host institution. Liberalizing course enrollment would make obtaining completing double ma-

jors and minors more feasible for CAPS majors. Additionally, improving student access to course

listings would be very useful for students who need to plan ahead to complete coursework for other

programs.

Experiential Learning Trips

One of the highlights of the CAPS Beijing semester is the weeklong trip included in the

China in Transition course. The Fall 2016 trip took us to Shanxi province, where we explored a

converted Maoist commune, many historical sites, and manifestations of China’s initiative to build

an “ecological civilization” in urban-historical renewal projects and a newly built, tightly regulated

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factory. Our experiences were framed by Professor Xu’s introduction of China’s current transi-

tionary state and supported by him and the staff members and tour guide who accompanied us.

While this trip was a fascinating and engaging way to introduce us to China and get us excited for

the semester, these experiences could be more tightly integrated into the semester’s curriculum.

Other programs provide similar opportunities within different curricular frameworks that are worth

considering:

Syracuse University: Syracuse takes students on a two-week “Signature Seminar” to areas such as

Yunnan and Xian (depending on the semester) before the beginning of the academic semester.

This seminar is treated as a standalone, 3-credit course, the former focusing on ethnic minorities

and the environment and the latter on China’s economic development. Treating the trip as a

standalone course separate from the China in Transition course and/or extending it to two weeks

could allow for a more in-depth and focused experience.

Dartmouth College: Dartmouth takes students on multiple trips, including a two-week trip in the

middle of the semester with a specific research focus. Students travelled to Zhejiang, Tibet (the

two-week trip), and Sichuan during the Fall 2016 semester and conducted research projects on

culture and history in each locale for their Chinese languages courses. More school-organized

travel opportunities, maybe centering on specific research topics, could help students who other-

wise do not have many opportunities to travel see more remote parts of China (I understand that

my cohort was an anomaly in the amount of trips we took) through a tightly focused, academically

rewarding framework.

Engagement with Local Students and Culture

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The Beijing semester is jam packed with coursework and internships, making engagement

with local students and culture difficult. While the CAPS program does a very good job of expos-

ing students to heritage sites and local political organizations through field trips around Beijing

and to Chengde, it can learn from other programs’ initiatives pairing students with local students

and engaging them in cultural activities.

Local Student Partners: The Stanford program pairs Stanford students with a PKU student buddy,

chosen from a selective application process for their English language ability and enthusiasm and

compensated for their assistance. Buddies are paired with students based on their common interests

and help students with their Chinese language ability while showing them around the city. Dart-

mouth pairs students with graduate students from BNU’s teaching college who are studying Chi-

nese language teaching. The CET program pairs students with a local roommate, with whom they

live and can practice their Chinese. Pairing CAPS students with a language buddy would help

supplement our Chinese language coursework, as immersion outside of the classroom is tanta-

mount to improving language ability and is not easy given our busy class and internship schedules.

This could be a structured exchange, with CAPS students serving as English language buddies, in

place of monetary compensation. Pairing students with a similarly interested Chinese student

would also help form friendships and facilitate cultural exchange, exposing Cornellians to Beijing

through the lens of their Chinese counterpart.

Cultural/Extracurricular Activities: Stanford works with local instructors to offer semester-long

classes in Tai Chi, calligraphy, and cooking to its students. Similarly, Dartmouth hosts periodic

mandatory cultural classes in similar subjects. Bringing weekly cultural experiences into the “Chi-

nese table” program would allow CAPS students to explore aspects of Chinese culture while

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providing more opportunities to practice Chinese. This could be done through partnerships and

planned collaboration with campus cultural organizations, which are difficult to access through the

complex BBS system and make time for as busy students/part-time employees.

Logistics and Amenities

CAPS is fortunate to have wonderful and attentive full-time staff at PKU, who are instru-

mental to the success of the Beijing semester, as well as comfortable living quarters and a student

lounge. Still, there may be room to improve in terms of streamlining payments and improving on

campus amenities.

Expenses: The CAPS semester requires that students pay for room and board and a variety of

services in cash – a very cumbersome process. Other programs, such as Stanford, Syracuse, UChi-

cago, and CET, charge a one time, comprehensive fee that covers these services before arrival.

Additionally, while Stanford and other international students at PKU received standard ID cards,

Cornell students were provided with green ID’s that charged an additional fee when making pur-

chases. Streamlining costs to include room and board and basic amenities, like wifi, would make

the experience much smoother, helping students avoid unnecessary ATM fees and the headache

of navigating campus services, as would securing standard ID’s to avoid unnecessary charges not

exacted from other students.

Amenities: Syracuse, UChicago, and Stanford have physical centers on their host campuses for

students, faculty, and researchers to access. The Stanford and UChicago centers, which I have

visited, hold classrooms, conference rooms, and student lounges, and frequently host workshops

and conferences. If funding allows, investing in a physical space for Cornell to base its operations

out of would be of great benefit to students, especially given the lack of work spaces on PKU’s

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campus, and would help Cornell expand its presence and opportunities for collaboration in China.

More immediately attainable amenities provided by other universities, like Stanford, include air

purifiers for student rooms, an expanded lounge space with updated amenities (to replace the bro-

ken computer and provide additional study space).

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Branch Campuses and Joint Institutes

Introduction

When Duke University opened its doors in China, it became the sixth U.S. based university

to develop a school in China. China Daily USA told its story along with the emerging market for

American higher education in China in an article entitled “US Schools Go East with Campuses.”1

There is an 8.1% year-over-year increase in international students coming to the United States to

study and 31% of them are from China alone.2 According to the Institute for International Educa-

tion, at the same time, the number of American students in China is decreasing by 8.2%.3 There-

fore, it seems as though American universities can benefit from partnering with a Chinese univer-

sity to provide a different style of education in China as well as maintaining a unique center for

their American students who wish to study abroad.

Among eleven U.S. universities and colleges in China, six received approval from the Min-

istry of Education to operate a branch campus or joint institute: Carnegie Mellon, Kean University,

University of Michigan, New York University, University of Pittsburgh, and of course, Duke Uni-

versity.4 While some of these universities focus on providing an American higher education to

Chinese students, there are a couple that operate both ways between Chinese students and Ameri-

1 Freifelder, Jack. “US Schools Go East with Campuses.” China Daily USA. 09 October 2015. Online.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/kindle/2015-10/09/content_22140283.htm. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid.

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can students. Carnegie Mellon offers joint degree programs at Chinese universities in Harbin, Bei-

jing, Nanjing, and Guangzhou. These are mostly graduate degree programs geared towards the

Chinese university student who would like to study abroad and/or receive a degree from an Amer-

ican institution. The Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute in Chengdu is similar in that it is

geared to Chinese students studying in engineering fields who may want to study abroad and re-

ceive an American degree. University of Michigan operates a joint institute with Shanghai Jiao

Tong University, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs to Chinese students focus-

ing on engineering. Although these universities are unique in their English-taught courses, Amer-

ican degree granting programs, and study abroad opportunities for Chinese students, this kind of

venture is one that is very different from CAPS at Cornell. Therefore, in this section, we will spend

more time focusing on Duke Kunshan University, New York University (NYU) Shanghai, and

Wenzhou-Kean University, all of which have a diverse range of offerings for both American and

Chinese undergraduate and graduate students.

Duke Kunshan, NYU Shanghai, and Wenzhou-Kean

Duke Kunshan University and NYU Shanghai both have liberal arts focused studies. Duke

offers everything from natural sciences to arts and humanities as well as social sciences like cul-

tural anthropology and economics. Students are also able to make their own interdisciplinary cur-

riculum but one thing that is the same for all students is fluency in English and conversational

proficiency in Chinese. Chinese students have the requirement to sufficiently communicate in Eng-

lish while native English speakers are required to take sixteen credits of Chinese language to ensure

conversational proficiency. NYU Shanghai is very similar although they expect all students to

study the language until maximum proficiency. Students also have the opportunity to study abroad,

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not only at Duke in America and NYU, respectively, but also at other institutions in the United

States and Europe because one aspect of these types of universities is that they have an interna-

tional focus. Universities like Duke Kunshan and NYU Shanghai are truly international universi-

ties. They accept students from all over the world, creating a more diverse atmosphere. Having

these institutions in China as well, students from the home university in the United States do have

the opportunity to spend a semester, a year, or more in China.

Conclusion

When comparing these particular programs to CAPS, on the surface it may seem like any-

thing that resembles them would be impossible. Creating a “Cornell in China” campus would be a

big endeavor but there are aspects of these institutes that could be replicated in the CAPS program,

specifically. First, prioritizing language learning is key. While it may be easier to develop when

you’re in China for four years, there are ways in which we could support greater language learning

in Ithaca. Chinese tables, dinners, the peer-to-peer language program and more interaction with

Language House on West Campus would all seek to benefit CAPS students’ language proficiency

while in Ithaca but often times, these resources are underutilized. Greater Chinese language inter-

action could also come in the form of greater two-way interactions with our partner university,

Beijing University. A key aspect of the stand-alone universities in China is that they foster a rela-

tionship with the Chinese students who are then able to study abroad at the American university.

Once and a while the government department accepts international students from China into its

graduate program that are able to interact with CAPS undergraduates if they find us. However, if

we were able to facilitate these kinds of relationships more regularly, not only would it be another

avenue for us to practice language skills but also to meet new people and make connections with

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Chinese students in a different environment. The interactions we have had in the past have been

really beneficial to CAPS students but there is also that interest in Chinese students as well, as the

numbers show as well as the success of these branch campuses and joint institutes in China.

When looking at these kind of institutions, it is difficult to see how they can be applicable

to the ten-student major we have at Cornell, especially if looking at Wenzhou-Kean University’s

500-acre campus. But there are some aspects in their operation that could be replicated. The em-

phasis on language learning, and increased interactions between American and Chinese students

not only benefit the students but their host universities in showing the success of international

partnerships in higher education.

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Chinese-operated, Foreigner-oriented Graduate Programs

Introduction

It has at times been noted that the particular structure of the China and Asia-Pacific Studies

program – with its high degree of specialization, emphasis on foreign experience, and straddling

of the line between the academic and the pre-professional – is more similar to that of a master’s

program than a typical undergraduate course of study. This is particularly true of the program’s

Beijing semester component, which is at once more academically rigorous than the average un-

dergraduate semester abroad and geared toward the development of an undeniably pre-professional

skillset in the form of a mandatory internship and more immersive Mandarin language training.

CAPS is thus interestingly positioned with respect to a certain subset of initiatives within the

broader universe of Sino-U.S. educational ties: China studies graduate programs operated by Chi-

nese universities but aimed primarily at non-Chinese (especially U.S.) students.

Exemplary of such initiatives are Yenching Academy and Schwarzman College, both

based practically across the street from one another in Beijing’s Haidian District at Peking Uni-

versity and Tsinghua University, respectively. Billing themselves as the Chinese analogs to pres-

tigious, hyper-competitive graduate fellowships such as the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships, the

Yenching and Schwarzman programs (much like CAPS) promise intellectual rigor, a future pro-

fessional network, and in-depth exposure to the history and culture of the world’s second-largest

economy. While such goals do not make Yenching and Schwarzman direct competitors with CAPS

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per se, their similarities are notable – giving us at Cornell ample opportunity to learn from their

successes and mistakes alike.

Yenching Academy5

Established in 2015, Peking University’s Yenching Academy offers students a one-year

(two-year for students from China) residential graduate program leading to a master’s degree in

China Studies, with concentrations available in Politics and International Relations, Philosophy

and Religion, Literature and Culture, Law and Society, History and Archaeology, and Economics

and Management. The Academy’s fellowships cover tuition, room and board, and travel to and

from Beijing. Graduation requires the completion and defense of a master’s thesis, Mandarin study

is mandatory for non-Chinese students, and a Career Development Service exists to facilitate stu-

dents’ transitions into the working world. During their time as Yenching Scholars, students live in

Building Six of the Zhengda International Center, part of the larger Shaoyuan student residential

complex which houses both domestic and international Peking University students.

Schwarzman College6

Established in 2016, Tsinghua University’s Schwarzman College offers students a one-

year (again, two-year for Chinese students) residential graduate program leading to a master’s

degree in Global Affairs, with concentrations available in Public Policy, Economics and Business,

5 All technical information related to Yenching Academy and the Yenching Scholars program comes from the offi-

cial Yenching website, http://yenchingacademy.org. 6 All technical information related to Schwarzman College and the Schwarzman Scholars program comes from the

official Schwarzman website, http://schwarzmanscholars.org.

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and International Studies. Schwarzman’s admissions process mandates very specific student de-

mographics (45% must come from the United States, 20% from China, and 35% from other coun-

tries), and its fellowship covers tuition, room and board, travel to and from Beijing, field trips,

textbooks and other school supplies, health insurance, an individual stipend, as well as a Lenovo

laptop and smartphone. Graduation requires the completion of a spring internship or other research

project as well as a final “capstone” project (which may or may not be an academic thesis). Like

Yenching’s program, all non-Chinese students are required to study Mandarin. More so than

Yenching, however, Schwarzman places a great deal of outright emphasis on students’ profes-

sional development: students are expected to be paired with senior mentors and to complete lead-

ership and management coursework during the fellowship year. Schwarzman Scholars live in the

Schwarzman College building: a palatial, tightly-secured structure on the Tsinghua University

campus.

Comparison and Contrast

As noted above, the fundamental similarities between Yenching Academy and Schwarz-

man College are quite numerous. Both have comparable program structures, funding models, and

overarching goals – and aim to draw from a nearly identical pool of motivated, high-performing

students from the United States, China, and beyond. However, the lessons this pair of fellowships

may be able to impart to CAPS are perhaps better reached through contrasting the programs’ op-

erating experiences within their short histories.

This is most glaring in the case of the programs’ relative accessibility to and degree of

integration within the local academic environments they inhabit. Schwarzman, for its part, is some-

thing of a fortress: its amenities are luxurious and plentiful (including in-house dining halls, con-

ference rooms, classrooms, individual bedrooms, a fitness center, a large courtyard, and even a

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full-service pub), and non-Schwarzman students are kept out of its facilities by round-the-clock

security. This level of aloofness has drawn the ire of many in the Tsinghua community, to the

extent that Schwarzman’s wireless Internet access code was once published in the student news-

paper as an act of defiance. Not only are non-Schwarzman students kept out, but the scholars

themselves have little incentive beyond their own curiosity to intermingle with the broader com-

munity, given that they already possess anything they could ever need within their own building.

Scholars at Yenching Academy, however, live in renovated student housing which also

accommodates non-Yenching Peking University students. Students leave their physical dormito-

ries in order to attend class, eat in the same dining halls as local students, and host events that are

accessible to both Yenching and non-Yenching students alike. The opportunities for integration

and interaction with average Peking University students are, thus, much more bountiful: doubtless

a boon to the cultivation of cross-cultural understanding both Yenching and Schwarzman alike

claim to pursue.

Conclusion

In many ways, the CAPS Beijing semester functions much like Yenching Academy in

terms of at least its physical set-up, with a limited but real degree of integration into the wider

Peking University community “built in” by virtue of the fact that our students must, at the very

least, use facilities that are also used by local students. This is not enough. Openness to and fur-

ther integration with Peking University – in the form of formal language partners, assistance with

joining student organizations, events with other Peking University bodies like Yenching Acad-

emy and Yuanpei College (the domestic honors program), and working to attract more local stu-

dents to CAPS courses – is crucial. We cannot allow our program to become a fortress.

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Summer Intensive Language Programs

Introduction

Although quite distinct from Cornell’s China and Asia Pacific (CAPS) program, summer

intensive language programs can offer a bit of insight into how we might improve CAPS for future

students. Through observing a summer intensive language program’s components, or the elements

that might be included in such a program, like “Chinese table” dinners and one-on-one tutors, as

well as an analysis of their costs and benefits, we can find ways to make CAPS a better, stronger

program. To that end, the authors have chosen two programs with which we have personal expe-

rience to put forward as case examples. Princeton in Beijing (PiB) and the University of Wiscon-

sin-Madison Intensive Chinese Language Program have a number of interesting components, in

both the academic and cultural spheres. Exploring these programs’ components, what they are as

well as how they were helpful or unhelpful toward the students, will allow us to offer a number of

suggestions for potential CAPS program components in the future. As such, the following chapter

will proceed with a detailing of each program, and conclude with our suggestions in response to

the data collected, through first hand participation as well as interviews with other students.

Princeton in Beijing

To begin, Princeton in Beijing (PiB) is a summer intensive Mandarin language study pro-

gram held by Princeton University in conjunction with Beijing Normal University. The latter

school hosts the program in Beijing, China, providing classrooms for instruction as well as housing

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in special international student dorms. The program cost is currently $5,800, and takes place from

late June to mid-August each year. Between 150-200 undergraduate students are selected to par-

ticipate, and acceptance is highly competitive. Each weekday consisted of four hours of instruction

in a classroom of four-five students, then one hour of one-on-one conversational practice with an

instructor. Coursework included oral reports, quizzes, dictation exercises and exams.

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Just a stone’s throw away from Beijing, the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW Mad-

ison) summer program takes place in Tianjin, where it is hosted by beautiful Nankai University.

Notably, although the staff itself is affiliated with Nankai and UW Madison, lodging and classes

both take place in buildings owned by Tianjin Normal University (TNU) around 15 minutes away

from Nankai. Students had the option of taking a variety of Chinese language and culture courses,

as well as plenty of opportunities to practice Chinese outside of class. While the program is obvi-

ously not completely comparable to CAPS, it offers a number of features that CAPS could replicate

to improve the experience for its students.

The program itself started in late May, when staff met students at the airport in Beijing and

transported them by bus to Tianjin. All of 20-30 students and most of the staff occupied a floor in

TNU’s international dorm. Directly across the dorm building was an academic building where

Chinese language class would take place from 8:00AM-12:00PM every day. Classes ranged from

beginner to advanced Chinese, and upper level students had the option of also taken Chinese lin-

guistics, Classical Chinese, and Business Chinese. The instructors were a mix of Nankai students

and UW Madison PhD students. For lower level classes, there was a larger class with all of the

students together for an hour or two, and then students would split up into smaller groups of five

or fewer students. The three teachers who taught these smaller groups would rotate every week.

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In addition, once a week students would take a culture class taught by an instructor not

directly affiliated with Nankai or UW Madison. The options were taichi, erhu, opera, and Chinese

painting and calligraphy. Other activities included Chinese table every Friday after classes ended.

All of the students and teachers would go to the restaurant on the ground floor of the dorms to eat

a catered lunch together and speak Chinese. This would usually last around an hour, after which

we would be free for the weekend. Every week or so we would also have excursions into Tianjin.

Sometimes we would have options of where to go and then small groups would go with an instruc-

tor, other times the whole group would go together.

Some select students also participated in a speech competition at Beijing Normal Univer-

sity hosted by PiB. Tryouts were held one or two weeks before a weeklong break in the middle of

the program. The top seven or eight students were then selected to participate in the program and

were assigned an instructor to help them prepare. Every day from then until the competition in

early August the students would practice for at least an hour two, with practices lasting up to six

hours a day in the run-up to the competition. At the competition, most of the participants were

from PiB, IUP, or a Harvard summer program, though several other programs were also repre-

sented. Ultimately, UW Madison students were amongst the best performers, with all but one or

two of us winning awards.

One key component of the program was meeting one-on-one with our tutors every day for

an hour after class. The tutors were all volunteers from Nankai University, and roommates would

share a tutor, though they would meet separately. A lot of students became good friends with their

tutors and would spend time together outside of class. This helped them get to know Tianjin better,

as well as meet more Chinese friends.

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Conclusion

Based off of these program components there are several key takeaways CAPS should take

when considering changes for future years. Firstly, Chinese table should be held once a week in-

stead of roughly once a month, as it is currently. It does not have to always be held at an off-

campus restaurant as it was this past year – simply going to the restaurant on the bottom floor of

Shaoyuan or one of the other Peking University eateries would be enough. This would give stu-

dents another chance to practice Chinese and get to know the instructors better.

On the topic of food, one key thing that could be improved is if all students had standard

Peking University ID cards. Unlike all other foreign students that we encountered, both short-term

and long-term, CAPS students had green foreign student Ids instead of the standard red ones. This

meant that CAPS students were charged an additional 10% on all food purchases. While the food

was so cheap that individually the amount was not very significant, over the course of the semester

it adds up.

The single best way in which CAPS can improve its Beijing semester, though, is by intro-

ducing language partners. These can be volunteers who apply to CAPS and are vetted by Cathy

and other CAPS Beida faculty members. They could then meet with CAPS students several times

a week to practice Chinese and explore Beijing. Currently, CAPS students have little interaction

with normal Beida students because they live in international student dorms and their courses are

overwhelmingly filled with non-Chinese students. Language partners would more often than not

become friends with CAPS students, and CAPS students would be able to meet more Chinese

friends through them. By taking these steps, CAPS students will be able to become much more

integrated in the Beida community and get more out of their semester in China.

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Another key way that the experiences of CAPS students can be enhanced is through weekly

culture classes. Many students want to take part in traditional Chinese activities like tai chi or seal

cutting, and while clubs dedicated to these activities certainly exist at Beida, finding them is a

daunting task. While the small size of CAPS classes means that it would not be feasible to have a

diverse array of choices like at UW Madison, having a weekly culture class with a traditional

Chinese activity that changed every week would be a fun activity.

Finally, a lesson that CAPS could learn from UW Madison to increase its profile in Ithaca

and at Beida is creating a Chinese language competition. If CAPS, in conjunction with other rele-

vant departments at Beida, created a Chinese language competition for foreign students, the profile

of CAPS at Beida could be raised. The most potential for this in terms of recruitment lies in having

a Cornell-wide Chinese speech competition for students studying Chinese at Cornell. CAPS cur-

rently has a minimal footprint on campus, and organizing an activity that would likely draw at

least a dozen or so underclassmen studying Chinese could easily help expand the major.

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Conclusion

CAPS stands out among its peers. However, CAPS could always improve its program for

its students. From the above observations of other China studies programs, stand-alone universities

in China, Chinese-operated graduate programs, and summer intensive programs, we make the fol-

lowing suggestions for the CAPS program at Cornell:

Provide access to courses outside of SIS while in Beijing

Bring a faculty-member-in-residence to (co)teach CAPS coursework full-time

Revisit the relationship between CAPS-organized travel and the Beijing curriculum

Institute a formalized system of language and culture partners

Streamline costs and fees

Secure standard ID cards

Provide air purifiers to students

Improve amenities in the CAPS student lounge and consider expansion

Provide one-on-one language instruction with Chinese teachers

Provide a framework for more interdisciplinary studies

Allow CAPS graduate students from China to come to Cornell

Offer weekly Chinese tables

Offer weekly cultural activities

Hold an annual, Cornell-wide Chinese language competition

The China and Asia-Pacific Studies Program has had a great impact on our time at Cornell and we

hope that, with the continuation and improvement of the program, it will thrive for another decade

and beyond. CAPS 万岁!