Year of the Panther

BEIJING - Georgia State University President Mark Becker hurries through a crowded street in downtown Beijing.

Horns blare as thousands teem through a bustling marketplace with wares that include everything from embroidered shoes to cell phone parts.

Teenagers with punk haircuts and iPods weave among stooped old men on bicycles, and women hold thin umbrellas high above their heads, trying to shield themselves from the hot July sun. Pharmacy shops feature Vicks cough syrup next to traditional Chinese herbal remedies in glass cases, and outdoor vendors hawk barrels of brightly colored dried fruit candy. Wangfujing Street, one of Beijing's busiest shopping districts, is alive with activity.

Pausing for a moment, Becker gestures around. 'You just can't get the scope,' he says, 'unless you're here.'

Becker first visited China in July 2004 as dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Before leaving on the trip, which was focused on building partnerships in the health sciences, he says, he had little notion of what to expect. As a professor of biostatistics, he was used to teaching Chinese students - they usually filled more than half the seats in his classes. He had Chinese friends, all warm, hardworking people with a strong work ethic, he says.

But his notions of China as a country were far less formed. Most, he says, were shaped by watching news clips of Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai on television as a child.

The 2004 trip, he says, was 'life changing.' At that time, Beijing was four years from hosting the Olympic Games. He saw dozens and dozens of cranes in every direction, a rapidly modernizing city positioning itself for its coming-out party on the global stage.

'It was amazing how different the images I had in my head were from what I saw,' he says. 'My feeling as a dean was that our students need to experience this. And that's what set me on the path.'

Turning college students into global citizens has become a passion for Becker, one he has brought to his tenure as the seventh president of Georgia State University. Becker envisions a GSU where all students obtain passports and are strongly encouraged to study all over the world.

Globalization also figures prominently in Georgia State's soon-to-be-launched strategic plan, which sets the course for the university over the next five years. The goal is to achieve distinction and promote opportunities for faculty and students by building sustainable international relationships and continuing to expand partnerships with universities from around the world.

Georgia State's J. Mack Robinson College of Business has been particularly active in the world arena, beefing up its international programs, creating degrees with a global focus and leveraging its location in downtown Atlanta to bring in resources and partnerships.

Most recently, the College of Business celebrated the launch of a new Center for International Business Education and Research, CIBER, funded through a $1.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education and one of only 33 nationwide. This resource funds research from faculty across the university that is focused on international business and increasing American competitiveness. Projects planned under GSU's CIBER include introducing a required undergraduate course in international business, creating a higher-ed consortium and emphasizing less-commonly taught languages like Mandarin, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish and Korean.

Dean H. Fenwick Huss believes the business school is in a prime position to make the most of a CIBER.

'We have operated in this college for more than a decade with the basic premise and assumption that business and global business are synonymous,' Huss said at a recent ceremony to celebrate CIBER's opening. 'If we talk about business, it's global. That's just the nature of the world (today).'

Another example of the college's inroads into internationalization is its Global Partners MBA, which began in 2005 and teams with leading business schools on four continents to give students a truly world-class business experience during a 14-month study abroad program.

Marta Szabo White, a management professor in the College of Business who leads Global Partners MBA students on their trips to China, says for students in the program, 'education knows no borders, no time zones.'

During White's program, students have learned firsthand about tax issues in China from a Georgia State grad, Daoshu Wang, who serves as director of the Department of Revenue Planning and Accounting for the State Administration of Taxation. They also take time to sit down for a formal dinner with Chinese officials, learning the cultural difference between doing business here and abroad. 'We capitalize on the diversity reflected in our student body,' White says, 'and embrace learning in cultures around the world.'

 

Bridging Cultures with a Confucius Institute

The Chinese Calendar: Year of the Tiger The Chinese lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon. In the Chinese calendar, the beginning of the year falls somewhere between late January and early February. While the Chinese have adopted the Western calendar, the lunar calendar is used for festivals and holidays, such as Chinese New Year. The calendar features rotating animal signs, which were used as a folk method for naming the years in traditional China. Much like horoscopes in Western society, the animal signs in China are used to predict someone's temperament or attitude. The animal signs are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar. 2010 is the Year of the Tiger.

It was the goal of bridging cultural differences and bringing both Georgia State and the Atlanta business community closer to China that took Becker to Beijing this summer. The president and other university representatives made the trip to finalize plans for a Confucius Institute, which officially opened at GSU in October. There are now more than 60 Confucius Institutes in the U.S., and more than 300 worldwide.

Xiiang Cui, president of Georgia State's partner institution, Beijing Language and Culture University, points out that GSU's Confucius Institute will be unique in that it will specifically focus on promoting Chinese language and culture to the broader business community in Atlanta and Georgia.

'We know Georgia State will be a strong business leader,' he says.

Becker agrees. 'We've got the largest business school in the Southeast and a very strong presence in international business,' Becker says. 'We have some programs in China, and we really haven't had the instruction around Chinese language and culture to support those programs.'

At the University of South Carolina, where Becker served as executive vice president of academic affairs and provost, he was instrumental in getting a Confucius Institute off the ground. The Confucius Institute there focuses on strengthening the university's course offerings in Chinese to the point where they can offer an undergraduate degree in Mandarin Chinese; capitalizing on their unique faculty strength in Chinese film; expanding the China-related research library collection; and hosting visiting faculty members from China. Now, Becker notes, Chinese is the second most popular foreign language at that university, behind only Spanish.

'China is where the action is, in terms of business. The visibility of the Confucius Institute led to an increased interest in study abroad... I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen here.'

Two professors from the Beijing Language and Culture University have already arrived on campus to begin teaching Chinese this spring, says Baotong Gu, the new director of the GSU Confucius Institute.

In addition to regular for-credit courses for GSU students, the Confucius Institute will offer non-credit courses geared toward the general public, including courses and workshops on Chinese culture and business practice for corporations and organizations interested in expanding business connections with China.

Huss says that while business Chinese is mentioned in some Confucius Institutes around the country, there are none that offer targeted, in-depth courses.

'We will be unique in our ability to educate businesses, organizations and community groups throughout the Southeast that have business relationships with China,' Huss said.

 

Georgia's Ties to China

In 2009 alone, Georgia's exports to China totaled close to $1.8 billion, ranking China as Georgia's second biggest export destination, according to the Georgia Ports Authority. Overall, Georgia is the 12th-largest export state in the United States, with $23.8 billion in exports in 2009.

Among U.S. states, Georgia ranks first among states in exports to China of meat; books and newspaper manuscripts; textile floor coverings; and silk. Other top exports to China include paper, glass and glassware, salt, sulfur, earth and stone, woodpulp, and aircraft and spacecraft, according to the Ports Authority.  

Trade between Savannah and China has grown 139 percent over the past five years, and the Port of Savannah is the biggest portal for China trade in the U.S. Mid and South Atlantic.

Gov. Sonny Perdue made three trade missions to China during his tenure as governor, most recently in September.

China 'cannot be ignored,' the governor said upon his return. 'While Europe continues to be our lowest-hanging fruit, China, when their market becomes mature and their companies get ready to move offshore into other areas, they all want to be in the U.S. market and we want them all to be in Georgia.'

 

Culture and Arts

Learning Chinese culture at Georgia State will go beyond the business world, however. Georgia State's Confucius Institute aims to bring both classic and modern Chinese art - including music, film, dance and sculpture - to GSU and Atlanta audiences. Recently, for example, the Institute brought a Chinese film festival featuring classic films by Chinese directors. 

Lauren Adamson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, says the language and culture components of the Confucius Institute also will serve Georgia State.

'The College of Arts and Sciences is proud of its growing offerings in Chinese language and culture and its many strong partnerships with colleagues in China,' she says. 'The Confucius Institute will provide invaluable resources, which will greatly enhance our educational programs and our connections with the Chinese community in Atlanta.'

 

Students Onboard

It's clear that the international buzz is catching on at Georgia State. More than 1,400 students attended a recent Study Abroad Fair hosted by the Department of International Education, stopping to chat with representatives at booths and hearing from students and faculty who have traveled to all corners of the world. The room hummed with excitement and chatter as a large screen projected a slideshow with pictures from student experiences.

Farrah Bernardino, GSU's director of study abroad programs, says she is thrilled that so many students are interested in seeing the world.

'Study abroad gives students the tools they need to become successful in a world where borders continue to blur,' she says. 'Demonstrated knowledge of global affairs and cross-cultural communication skills are essential upon graduation, regardless of a student's major.'

And while those European castles are lovely, many Georgia State students say they are intent on traveling to Asia.

Sophomore Casey Hicks, who is majoring in Asian Studies, said she plans to study in Japan or Korea during her time at GSU. She is studying both languages and is considering adding Chinese to that list.

The Atlanta native, who was homeschooled, says some students might be deterred from traveling so far, but not her.

'I don't want to play it safe,' she says. 'I want to be where the action is.'

 

Georgia State and Asia Georgia State's Asian Studies Center was established in 2003. Professor Kim Reimman in political science serves as director of the center and as faculty adviser to undergraduate students majoring in Asian Studies. The center coordinates cultural, artistic and scholarly activities related to Asia and Asian Americans through travel, teaching and research and seeks to integrate GSU with the larger Asian community. Undergraduate Exchange Programs in Asia through GSU include: China Tsinghua University: Beijing Central University of Finance and Economics: Beijing Tsinghua University: Beijing Sichuan Normal University: Chengdu India Aligarh Muslim University: Aligarh Japan Osaka Gaidai University: Osaka Korea Ewha University: Seoul Hanyang University: Seoul Sookmyung Women's University Exchange: Seoul