Dickinson State U. Reverses Decision on Confucius Institute

February 9, 2012, 1:02 pm

Dickinson State University has backed away from plans to start a Confucius Institute on its campus. Citing “unforeseen circumstances” and a year that has been “full of changes,” a spokeswoman for the North Dakota university told The Dickinson Press that the decision was “a matter of where we want to put our energy right now.”

The state’s Board of Higher Education last April approved the opening of the institute, which would have promoted the study of Chinese languages and culture. But Dickinson State faculty voted to oppose the institute last fall. In December the state fired the university’s president for inflating enrollment figures.

Confucius Institutes at other colleges have prompted some concerns that the programs, which receive Chinese-government funds, would interfere with academic freedom.

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arminius

In my estimation, most college officers, i.e., university presidents, deans etc. should go to a Confucius institute to learn the meaning of this passage from the Analects: jun zi bu qi 君子不器 in other words a scholar/gentleman is not an implement. I’d also extend this invitation to most politicians.
embuckles

I believe that the program in Tennessee may operate out of the University of Memphis, however, I was pleased to see that they are offering instruction in Chinese to students at my old elementary school in Bristol, Tennessee. Seems like a great opportunity for the children there. Hmm, wonder if they can teach the students to sing bluegrass songs and country songs in Chinese? ;>
citizen2000

Fraud is rampant in Chinese
academia according to a recent article in the New York Times. It seems to be
contagious to the American universities who are China’s partners. The University of Michigan
has a similar joint engineering program at Shanghai Jiao
Tong University.
Many students are graduating with a UM degree who have never set foot in Michigan. American
universities need to return to educating Americans and quit selling out for
short term profits to China.
Read more at http://www.china-threat.com