UNT in the World: Global Scholar Development Program China 2009

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 June 2009 09:35

The focus of this year’s program was China: “Modernity, Development, and Sustainability: Examining the New China from the Inside.”

During a trip to China in summer 2008, Dr. Bataille and a delegation of senior administrators launched a major effort to develop a significant role for UNT in China, to forge partnerships, and to begin to create a deep and complex network of connections in this strategically important country.

The Global Scholar Development program was designed to take UNT faculty to China to build on those established linkages and expand upon them.

The trip provided the opportunity to continue the process of introducing UNT to our Chinese partners and colleagues; to forge additional personal and professional connections between individual scholars and to nurture a rich web of associations with key Chinese universities where UNT has the potential become a preferred collaborator and a visible and respected partner with a deep knowledge and commitment to China.

In addition, UNT Faculty- and by extension their colleagues, departments, schools and colleges – were introduced to contemporary China. By traveling to various parts of the county, faculty members were provided a unique perspective and experience designed to deepen the understanding of this huge country, the complex challenges it faces, and the opportunities it offers for scholars of every discipline. The delegation visited some of China’s major coastal cities, but spent the majority of time away from the coast, in cities and with people more representative of where the country and the society really is on its path into the twenty-first century.