 "Photo: ANDREW BURLESON")
Texas A&M will offer six new Asian language and history courses with an emphasis on China after receiving a $178,000 two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The six new courses that will be offered in the fall include Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Asian religions, history and geography of China, social change and demography of China and Communism in Asia. A&M currently offers two years of Japanese language courses, as well as history classes in East Asia, modern China and 20th-century Japan.
Rick Nader, director of the Institute for Asia Pacific and facilitator of the grant application, said the application was initiated based on demand from students to increase Asian education.
"Given the growing economic and cultural influence of China in the 21st century, it is incumbent on Texas A&M's quality of education to offer as much exposure as possible to the study of China and Chinese language," Nader said.
The grant is a training grant and will initiate a new Asian studies advisory group that will oversee the development of the new courses and promote the development of Asian education, Nader said.
Julia Kirk Blackwelder, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said the grants funds have been matched so that once the grant is gone, the courses are here to stay.
"The new courses developed under the grant will become a permanent part of the curriculum through the normal channels of the College and University," Blackwelder said.
Blackwelder said that in the past, A&M has lagged behind other institutions in Asian studies options.
"Through the opportunities made possible by this grant, we will nearly close the gap with other great public universities in the nation," Blackwelder said.
The new courses will be offered within the College of Liberal Arts, except one, which will be offered from the Department of Geosciences, Blackwelder said. Tenured or tenure-track professors will be teaching these new courses through a normal course rotation.
Blackwelder said the addition of these courses should advance the goals of Vision 2020 by providing increased internalization.
"Increased study of Asia by American-born students should improve communication between those students and students coming to Texas A&M from Asia," Blackwelder said.
Nader said he believes A&M students and international students already enjoy social interaction, but that the new courses should increase their understanding of one another.
"Hopefully, this will provide more chances for American and Chinese students to get to know each other's rich cultures and find out that Aggies from both China and the U.S. have a lot in common - a respect for tradition and a keen sense of family," he said.
The Department of Education has extensive requirements for grant applications, and faculty members and the Institute of Pacific Asia spent two years preparing the application. The University has made China a priority, Nader said.
"This grant is different from most research grants A&M receives," Nader said. "This grant is specifically for improving undergraduate education."
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