Beijing - Contemporary Issues In China

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Overview

Quick Facts

City:

Beijing [1]

Country:

China [2]

Program credits:

15 per semester

Language(s) of Instruction:

English

Chinese

Language prerequisites:

None

What better place to study contemporary issues in China than in Beijing, a city where the future is inextricably linked to the past? From the majestic Summer Palace to the bright lights and excitement of the Central Business District, the sights and sounds of Beijing will enchant you as you study Chinese history, economics, and culture.

Based on the campus of the Beijing Foreign Studies University, the program begins with the Understanding China seminar followed by a series of rigorous 300-level seminars (such as Chinese Government and Politics and Modern Chinese Literature) taught one-at-a-time at an accelerated pace in the morning while you study Chinese in the afternoon.

This program is structured around three distinctive “blocks” or modules that all students must take. Area studies seminars are taught in English by scholars from leading academic institutions in China, the United States, and Europe.

Each course features extensive experiential learning, and two courses include travel study to locations such as Yunnan Province and Tibet. With daily seminars and discussions of 2–3 hours, along with journaling, presentations, and challenging assignments, this program offers in-depth engagement with China.

Beijing will also be your classroom. From eating jian bing from a street vendor to haggling in Mandarin in a bustling market, everything you do will be part of your learning experience.

We want you to feel at home in China, so we will do everything we can to help you integrate into life in Beijing, from internships to cultural activities. To facilitate language improvement and cultural understanding, you have the option of living in a homestay or in a dorm with a Chinese roommate.

Program Dates

These dates are preliminary and are subject to change. Students should not book flights according to these dates.

Academics

Our mission is simple: to provide you with the best study abroad program possible—which includes the highest quality academic and cultural experiences. We offer courses that explore Chinese Language, History, and Culture through an in-depth and hands-on approach. Our world-class professors enhance your academic experience and provide you with new perspectives each day in class.

Three sequential blocks each feature two 3-credit, 300-level courses on China, as well as Chinese language classes. You select one of course in each block. Each block lasts four and a half weeks.

All courses are 3 credits unless otherwise noted and you take 15 credit hours per semester.

Required for all students:

One Chinese language course (4 credits) offered at beginning, intermediate, advanced intermediate, and advanced levels throughout the semester.
Understanding China semester (2 credits)
3 English-taught area studies courses (9 credits)

The Contemporary Issues in China Program is structured around distinctive “blocks”, which all students must take. The three blocks of the semester each feature a 3-credit, 300-level course on China as well as a continuation of the Chinese language classes that began during orientation. Each block lasts 4.5 weeks.

Week 1 – Orientation and Chinese Language Courses.
Week 2-4 – Understanding China seminar.
Block 1 (weeks 5-8) – 3-credit area studies class and 2-hour Chinese class four days a week. Fall term Academic Field Study block.
Block 2 (weeks 9-12) – 3-credit area studies class and 2-hour Chinese class four days a week.
Block 3 (weeks 13-16) – 3-credit area studies class and 2-hour Chinese class four days a week. Spring term Academic Field Study block.

Center-Wide Language Pledge
Our Beijing Center faculty take great pride in the quality of its language training. In order to create a Chinese language environment and maximize individual proficiency, you are required to observe a strict language pledge at the IES Abroad Beijing Center and on the Beijing Foreign Studies University campus. “English-friendly weekends” are interspersed throughout the semester to give you a break from the rigors of the language pledge. Students with no prior language experience are expected to join the language pledge six weeks into the semester.

Courses

This is a list of potential course offerings. After you are accepted, you will see a list of final course offerings in your MyIESabroad account.

To learn more about IES Abroad’s innovative theoretical and pedagogical approaches to teaching language abroad, refer to the IES Abroad MAP for Language & Intercultural Communication [3].

Partner Institution(s)

Popularly known as Bei Wai or BFSU, Beijing Foreign Studies University is one of Beijing’s most prestigious academic institutions. A teaching and research university, BFSU has a student body of 4,000 and is one of the 100 universities nationwide selected for priority development into the 21st century. IES Abroad is currently the only resident U.S. program at Bei Wai, giving you a better opportunity to integrate with Chinese students. Some students join the university student union and intramural sports activities, such as ping-pong and basketball.

Field Study

Unique to this program, IES Abroad arranges exciting and extensive academic travel, site visits, and field trips that are incorporated into the curriculum. Some trips are associated with specific courses and travel outside Beijing for up to two weeks. Other trips are shorter and connect your academics to local sites in Beijing.

Housing

Our job is to make sure that your greatest challenge is deciding what landmarks to see first or discovering the best café—not finding a place to live where you feel comfortable. We do our best to locate housing that is reflective of how the local community lives. Our goal is that when you leave Beijing, it will feel like home.

You live in a language-immersion environment to support rapid language advancement. Housing options will require a commitment to speaking Chinese at all times, and adhering to household and residence hall etiquette that is in harmony with Chinese cultural norms and university regulations.

Homestays
Homestays provide the ideal environment for learning about China and improving your Chinese language skills. Most of our homestays are located within a short walk or bus ride to the Center. All homestays feature a private bedroom. While living in a home may involve making some sacrifices of privacy and personal freedom, our Chinese homestay families are universally eager to get to know you and share their ideas, language, and culture with you. We will find you a suitable “English-friendly” homestay if you don’t have Chinese language experience. As living in a homestay requires a unique commitment on the part of students, we will interview all arriving students to determine if a homestay is right for you. Homestay opportunities are limited, and we ask that only students seriously committed to being part of a family apply.

You are provided breakfast and dinner by your host family, seven days a week, while the program is in session.

Residence Halls with Chinese Roommates
IES Beijing is one of the only study abroad programs in Beijing to offer students the chance to live with a Chinese roommate. Although sharing a room with a Chinese roommate may require you to make cultural adjustments and compromises, the rewards are significant. Students often develop strong friendships with the Chinese students in the hall, and enjoy impromptu gatherings both on and off the BFSU campus. Chinese roommates are selected from BFSU’s prestigious School of International Business. The rooms are located in the IES Center and are wired for high-speed Internet access. Dormitory floors include student lounges with WiFi, shared bathrooms, washing machines, and kitchen facilities. Meals are not included, but you can eat at one of several university cafeterias or prepare your own meals in shared kitchens. Take advantage of the many small, inexpensive, privately-operated restaurants near the campus and throughout Beijing.

Student Life

Part of making you feel at home in Beijing is doing our best to help you feel safe and cared for. Whether it is an orientation program that makes you feel prepared, housing that is well-located and comfortable, or the field trips that take you to places off the beaten path for a great price—we’re all about our student services. This is just one of the things we’re known for.

Orientation

The program begins with a specially- designed, five-day program introducing you to the IES Abroad staff, your fellow students, Beijing Foreign Studies University, and the city of Beijing. Topics such as academics, housing, transportation, cultural adjustment, and health and safety are covered during your orientation. One-on-one advising sessions on language and area studies classes are arranged, as well as homestay placements.

CORE™, IES Abroad’s Comprehensive Orientation and Re-entry Experience, begins during orientation and continues throughout the semester with activities focusing on cultural adjustment, goal achievement, and preparing for the return home.

Activities include “Explore Beijing” (task-based activities for you to learn the transportation system and to visit historical areas and places frequented by students), and the “Tiananmen Trifecta” (a city bus tour that ends at Tiananmen Square for a historical lecture followed by a guided tour of the Forbidden City). You also experience the “IES Abroad Beijing Marketplace,” where you can purchase supplies, such as discount guidebooks, maps, and paper and electronic dictionaries while getting tips from the local vendors about learning and living in Beijing.

Extracurricular Activities & Cultural Events

Redefine the way you live and learn in Beijing through our cultural events, such as:

Practicing calligraphy
Learning martial arts
Taking cooking sessions
Attending weekend workshops
Joining the IES Abroad Beijing yoga club
Enjoying a Chinese quiz show
Chinese Oratory Challenge
Attending China Night
Watching the 3rd Year Student Film Festival

Field Trips

Although your adventure begins in Beijing, our field trips and mobile learning trips take you out of the capital to other great cities and destinations. Our trips are designed to take you to places off the beaten track and to explore the many different faces of this diverse and extraordinary country.

Mobile Learning Field Study Trips relate directly to your academic coursework. Each semester, one of your courses will be taught outside of Beijing in another part of China. Students can choose between environmental studies and biodiversity in the wild and lush mountains of Yunnan Province or ethnic studies in Tibet. Learn while you travel accompanied by IES professors and staff.

You will also have at least two three-day weekends to travel independently in China. Create your own itinerary and explore this fascinating and diverse country.

Mobile Learning Trip
You choose one of two mobile learning study trips, depending on which mobile learning course you take during the semester:

Ethnicity in Contemporary China: Tibet
Travel to Lhasa and the Tibetan Plateau and learn more about this remote and controversial region. Learn more about Tibetan culture and what Tibetans are doing to preserve their heritage in the face of the economic and political pressures of an emerging China. Spend time in Tibetan monasteries, camping out on the plateau, hiking with nomadic herders, or exploring the back streets and markets of Lhasa. In the event Tibet is closed for political reasons, we will visit other parts of the Tibetan plateau in Northwest Yunnan, Southeast Sichuan, or Qinghai Province.

China's Development & Environmental Challenges: Yunnan Province
Join your instructors on an exploration of biodiversity and sustainable development issues in Yunnan province. Examine the ecological effects of urbanization on Yunnan’s capital Kunming, then travel to Lijiang to observe the positive and negative effects of tourism on the local ecosystem. Finally, travel to Zhongdian (Also known as "Shangri-la") to understand the synergy between traditional Tibetan practices and the local environment.

Optional Tibet Field Trip
An optional 10-day trip to Tibet is offered to all IES Beijing students. Choose to travel either before the fall semester or after the spring semester. IES staff and a team of professional Tibetan guides will take you from the markets and temples of Lhasa to high mountain passes and camping by the shores of alpine lakes. We will visit sites including the Potala Palace, once the home of the Dalai Lamas; Jokhang Temple, the holiest site in Tibetan Buddhism; and the Sera Monastery where we will watch the monks participate in their daily debate ritual. Lodging will be in local hostels or sometimes camping in tents under the stars. Most meals and all local transportation is provided. Contact IES staff for information on pricing and schedule. The itinerary is subject to change or cancellation depending upon the political situation in Tibet.

Center

IES Abroad Beijing [4]

Since 2006, our Center has been located on the west campus of Beijing Foreign Studies University near BFSU’s library, gym, and Olympic-sized swimming pool. The Center is in Beijing’s northwestern district of Haidian, home to more than 20 universities and serves as Beijing’s largest residential district.

Features include:

17 language classrooms for small classes of six
Seminar room for small area studies classes and group meetings
Lecture room for area studies classes of 25 or less and speakers in our guest lecture series
Multifunctional activity room for film viewing, group gatherings, yoga class, etc.
3,000 volume library with seating and study space for 25
Housing for 45 students with Chinese roommates
Multiple student lounges
Administrative offices
High-speed wireless Internet and printer access

Center staff:

Jeremiah Jenne
IES Abroad Director
Jeremiah Jenne is a Ph.D. Candidate in History at the University of California, Davis. He specializes in 19th-century Qing history and is currently researching anti-foreignism and colonialism in the coastal ('treaty port') cities of the Qing Empire. He previously served as the Associate Director for China Studies at IES Abroad Beijing. Other research interests include the Qing as an imperial(ist) power, the construction of identity during the Qing Dynasty, nationalism in modern China, and gender and the family in Late Imperial China. His essays have appeared in China in 2008: A Year of Great Significance and The Insiders Guide to Beijing, 2009 Edition.

IES Abroad Staff
Ning Zhao
Associate Director

Xiaomeng Lin
Academic and Internship Coordinator

Jiasui "Josie" Wang
Student Affairs and Customized Program Coordinator

Chuantao Xiang
Office Assistant

Jijiao Zhang
Accountant

Language Faculty
IES Abroad language faculty are experienced Chinese language instructors from the Beijing Foreign Studies University and other universities such as Peking University, Qinghua
University, and the Beijing Normal University. IES provides regular training in Western second language teaching methods.

Area Studies Faculty
IES area studies faculty typically hold advanced degrees from prestigious Chinese or Western universities,have studied or taught at Western universities, have published in China and abroad, and currently old positions at universities such as Peking University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, People's University, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Many have been Fulbright scholars and in addition to their teaching responsibilities are editors of journals, chairs of departments, and directors of research institutes.

Cost