English Department charts new territory
International certificate program an institutional first
Provost Jeffrey Herbst and Shanxi’s Jinping Tian sign agreement between Miami and Shanxi Normal universities.
The Department of English has established Miami’s first international certificate program in partnership with Shanxi Normal University (SNU) in Western China. Under this agreement, beginning in fall of 2010, selected English majors in Shanxi’s Department of English will come to Miami for one year to earn a Certificate in English Literary and Cultural Studies.
“The agreement with Shanxi Normal University is an important step forward in the internationalization of our campus and development of relations with universities in China,” said Provost Jeffrey Herbst. “Shanxi’s choice of Miami to develop [the] Certificate in English Literary and Cultural Studies demonstrates our progressive international orientation and the English department’s excellent work in new global curricular initiatives.”
Celebrating the signing of the agreement are, left to right: David Yen, Raymond E. Glos Professor in Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems and director of the China Business Program; Wendy Yen; Karen Schilling, Dean of the College of Arts and Science; Karl Schilling; Tian Jinping, dean of foreign languages at Shanxi Normal University; Kerry Powell; Felice Marcus, ESL instructor in English; LuMing Mao, professor of English and originator of the Certificate program; DeVona Miller; and David Keitges, director of International Education.
Senior students will graduate from Shanxi upon finishing the program, with a clear competitive edge in the job market. Juniors will go back to complete their senior year with a much stronger understanding of American culture, and all-around training in linguistics, writing and literature in a Western learning environment. Fifteen students are expected to participate in the first year.
LuMing Mao, Professor of English, who helped initiate the new Asian/Asian-American Studies program, designed the Certificate in English in consultation with SNU Dean of Foreign Languages, Jinping Tian, and Miami chair of English, Kerry Powell. In early April, Mao and Powell brought the idea to College of Arts and Science Dean Karen Schilling, who enthusiastically supported the proposal. Provost Herbst endorsed the program officially on July 10. Dr. David Keitges, Director of International Education, was a key advisor throughout each stage, and will continue to play a major role in the program’s implementation.
Miami’s first international certificate program grew out of an interdivisional collaboration between English and the Farmer School of Business.
The Certificate in English builds on a Miami-Shanxi Normal “Memorandum of Understanding” signed by Farmer School of Business Dean Roger Jenkins and Provost Herbst in November 2007 following a SNU School of Management delegation visit to the Farmer School of Business. The memorandum states that the two institutions are linked by common academic and cultural interests, wish to enable cooperation and exchange in all academic areas of mutual interest, and desire to expand the basis for friendship and cooperative educational exchange between China and the United States.
Indeed, nearly two years later, the memorandum has met its goals for expanding friendship and educational exchange. This time the entrepreneurs are in the English department! “This is the first certificate of its kind offered at Miami and we hope this opportunity spreads to other departments,” said Keitges. “I see great potential and interest in this new model of international education at Miami.”
A major benefit of this program for domestic students will be the exposure to new ways of thinking and the cross-cultural perspectives in upper level English classes that have up until now have been predominantly composed of American students.
“I had a German class with international exchange students last year and it was a great experience,” said senior English major, Kori Austera. “We approached texts coming from different language perspectives, and everyone expanded their intellectual horizons. I think it’s great that the Shanxi-Miami program will bring an added dimension of cultural exchange to our classes in the English department.”
Dr. David Yen, Director of Miami’s China Business Program, originally initiated the interdivisional relationship when he invited Powell, to meet with the MU-SNU business delegation to explore how the Shanxi–Miami relationship could be expanded to the College of Arts and Science.
Tian, a cultural linguistics scholar, came to Miami as visiting scholar in English during the spring 2009 semester, meeting often with Mao and Powell, as well as establishing contacts with faculty in linguistics and rhetoric.
Tian had also come to implement an educational exchange program as set out in the original memorandum. Following a series of strategic discussions, the Certificate of English took shape in a way that pleased all parties. On July 13, a week before Dean Tian returned to China, a signing ceremony in Provost Herbst’s office brought together friends and colleagues who will be working on the SNU-MU program to make it a great success.