One of the first, one of the best Confucius Institutes

When the University of Kansas’ Confucius Institute was established in 2006, it was the fifth in the nation. The other four were in Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York and San Francisco.

That early commitment to KU reflected its long history in establishing international exchanges, high ranking in study abroad participation and significant language offerings (more than 40 from Arabic to Wolof). And that investment has paid off: the institute has flourished and three times it has been recognized as a Confucius Institute of the Year by the Chinese Language Institute.

There are now 68 such institutes in the United States. KU’s institute serves communities, businesses, schools, government, nonprofit organizations and the media throughout the region by offering community-based Chinese language instruction, supporting the training and professional development of Chinese language teachers and promoting outreach programs on Chinese culture. It is a cooperative project of KU, the Office of Chinese Language Council International of the Chinese Ministry of Education and Huazhong Normal University.

The accomplishments of KU’s Confucius Institute range from well-attended community language classes to corporate partnerships to distance-learning courses in Chinese for school districts throughout the state. The institute also has an ongoing partnership with global engineering firm Black & Veatch to provide seminars on Chinese language and business culture for executives and engineers.