Welcome to china360 “Theory”. This section of the site is meant to serve as an online journal and op-ed page that is comprehensive in scope, objectively critical in analysis, and contextually relevant and current. The Theory section is designed as a collective undertaking by experts across disciplines from different corners of the globe. China Institute seeks to provide a balanced voice on the current state of theory and research in subjects pertinent to Mandarin language education and the understanding of Chinese civilization. We will solicit submissions from outstanding experts in their respective fields, and their future contributions of scholarship will cover topics such as bilateral policy issues on industrialization and environmentalism, the current state of Mandarin language education in the United States, and pioneering pedagogical research on integrating culture into the virtual classroom.

We hope you find the articles here stimulating and thought-provoking.

China Institute Education Department Staff

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我很荣幸代表华美协进社的教育组来歡迎您访问我们崭新的教育网站。 这是华美协进社走进全球网上教室空间的第一大步。

华美协进社注重弘扬中国文化，是美国历史最悠久的中美两文化教育机构，在教育领域中的历史传承可追溯到1926年该社的创始人胡适和杜威教授。自成立以来，华美协进社一如既往推进中美两国人民之间的交往，促进相互间的了解。教育网站是华美协进社最新的创举，旨在履行一个崭新的无国界时代赋予我们的新的历史使命。

该网站的构思源自中国的一个文学传统，集不同的智慧资源 ，对其进行编辑和注释，形成一个对大众具有指导性的集体成果。自从一年前启动该网站建设以来，已从最初为华美协进社全体教师建设一个基本信息中心发展成为一个全球。现代技术让我们走出资料中心的经典模式，建成一个互动的，可用的，并且不断发展的知识宝库。

我们的教育网站就像一个网上校园，有很多部门。学生可以通过网络教学学到由美中两国顶尖学者教授的课程；美国K-12年级的教师可以从网站上获得教授中国的实用信息，如，上课教案，课程指南；教育管理者能够与远方的同事一起参与论坛讨论；公众可以有机会接触当前有关中国社会和文化的精确知识。

“专家角落”的社论文章与操作編輯，是我们教育网站一个特色。我们非常有幸在创刊号里刊登华东师范大学张建民教授题为：“网络应用于对外汉语课堂教学的模式和原则“的论文摘要。从2005年起，华美协进社和华东师范大学一起并肩合作开展学术业务合作。华东师范大学有着和华美协进社同样的历史，被公认为中国的重点大学之一，引领教育研究和教师教育。

“ 专家角落“是一份集体作业。跨学科的专家，通过全球远程教室空间一起来兑现此承诺，力求为贴近汉语教育议题的研究现状和理解中国文明提供和谐的声音。专家角是根据教育网站的指导原则而创建，体现综合性，客观性，相关性和通用性。我们集中了一批优秀的专家，他们的学识研究含盖诸如，双边工业化和环境保护政策的问题，美国汉语教育现状分析，中国文化走进汉语课堂教学的指导性教育研究。

我们的教育团组和我诚邀您成为这个日益发展壮大的网上社区的成员之一，这是为所有曾经鼓励我们学习和转递知识的教育者们而创建，原将此成果贡献给他们。我们希望您将和我们一起在这网上教室学习和探讨， 一起走进无边的全球网上时代。

此致

敬礼

徐心眉博士

华美协进社，教育主任与孔子学院教务长

联合国教科文组织世界遗产中心，国际顾问

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By commission of the UNESCO Scientific Committee for the Qhapaq Ñan
April 2006

Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Chinese Silk was all the rage in Augustan Rome (31 BCE-14 CE). In Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love), Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) gives us one of the earliest references of the wearing of Chinese silk in Western literature.

But he that covets to retain her heart,
Let him apply his flattery with art;
With lasting raptures on her beauty gaze,
And make her form the subject of his praise.
Purple commend, when she’s in purple dress’d;
In scarlet, swear she looks in scarlet best;
Array’d in gold, her graceful mien adore,
Vowing those eyes transcend the sparkling ore.
With prudence place each compliment aright;
Tho’ clad in crape, let homely crape delight.

Ovid’s obsession with beauties adorned in gossamers of silk is an apt metaphor to the seductive effect of Chinese silk on the Romans. The exotic import would prove to be more than a passing trend, for its enduring popularity beyond the Augustan age was well documented by a number of observers, including Tacitus (c. 56-c. 117 CE) and Galen (129-200 CE). As the most conspicuous consumers of Chinese silk in the ancient world, the Romans provided the initial impetus for the globalization of silk.

The Early Silk Road from the Roman Perspective

The appeal of Chinese silk was undeniably its luxurious qualities—soft to the touch and lightweight as feather, yet surprisingly durable—but the Roman patrician consumers’ obsession with Chinese silk was likely driven by the material’s scarcity and mysterious origin. The most exquisite silk products were reserved exclusively for imperial consumption. Caligula (r. 37-41 CE) was known for his penchant for wearing women’s silk garments, among his many eccentricities. He was often seen in public clad in such attire. Commodus (r. 180-192), on the other hand, preferred to use silk for interior decoration. His palace was said to have been adorned with splendid drapery of embroidered silk. The most infamous silk aficionado in Western antiquity was the last of the Antonines, Elagabalus (r. 218- 22 CE). He was vilified for introducing the cult of the Syrian Sun God to Roman religion; he also gained notoriety as the first and probably the only Roman emperor to have dressed exclusively in pure Chinese silk. If ancient writings hold any truth, Elagabalus even commissioned the making of a silk rope dyed to the colors of imperial purple and scarlet in anticipation of fulfilling the prophecy of a violent death by a noose.

Silk is a fibrous substance produced by insects, but Chinese silk is made from the fibers exclusively produced by the moths that feed on mulberry leaves. These moths, Insecta Lepidoptera Ditrysia Bombycoidea Bombycidae, were native only to China in the early antiquity. Raw silk is produced from silkworm cocoons in a lengthy process known as sericulture. (INSERT picture of silk cocoons) During this process the caterpillar inside is killed in order to preserve the cocoon. After an extended period of soaking in hot water, the cocoon is unraveled to obtain the filament; each cocoon produces about 1000 yards of filament. The filaments are subsequently wound on a wheel and spun. Raw silk is a versatile material that can be dyed into a rainbow of colors and variegated with gold threads; finely manufactured silk was prized for its soft texture, lightweight, and translucency. Chinese mythology dates the invention of sericulture to prehistoric times. Excavated examples of silk threads and spinning tools at early Neolithic sites confirm the cultivation of silkworms as early as c. 4000 BCE. There is no doubt that sericulture was already highly developed by the Shang dynasty (c. 1500-1045 BCE).

It is commonly misconceived that the Chinese were the only producers of silk in the ancient world. My investigation shows that, prior to the introduction of Chinese silk, another type was known to the Romans. In Historia Naturalis (The Natural History), Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) describes a certain Coan silk, named after the Mediterranean island of Cos where the fabric was sourced.

The first kinds of silk dresses worn by the Roman ladies were from this island, and, as Pliny says, were known by the name of Coca vestes. These dresses were so fine as to be transparent, and were sometimes dyed purple, and enriched with stripes of gold. They probably had their name from the early reputation which Cos acquired by its manufactures of silk.

By all accounts, Coan silk was very much in vogue before Chinese silk became known. The Roman obsession with Chinese silk had an inauspicious start. In 53 BCE, the Roman army suffered a devastating defeat and tremendous casualty in the hands of the Parthians at the battle of Carrhae, near the Euphrates in Western Mesopotamia. The Roman commander Marcus Licinius Crassus died after a risky escape; his body was then taken by the Parthians and his head was presented to the Parthian king Orodes II. As the survivors of Crassus’s army fled from the battlefield, however, they were struck by the sight of their enemy’s brilliantly colored banners fluttering in the wind. These banners were made of Chinese silk.

Once the Romans learned about Chinese silk, it quickly replaced the Coan prototype as the sine qua non in a fashionable lady’s wardrobe. Soon, even men of the upper class began to prefer clothing made of Chinese silk, as ownership of Chinese silk symbolized wealth and status. In the early years of Tiberius’s reign (r. 14-37 CE), the Senate issued several edicts prohibiting men from wearing Chinese silk because it was viewed as the source of a significant monetary outflow into foreign hands. By the third century CE, silk had become so costly that Emperor Aurelian (r. 270-275) forbade his empress to own not even one shawl of purple-dyed silk. By this time, silk was selling for its weight in gold.

Chinese silk was the most costly article of import for the Romans for one reason only – that the trade was monopolized by numerous middlemen, namely the Parthians, a traditional enemy of Rome. There was no direct trade between the Chinese and Romans, who are the respective supplier and consumer. In fact, the two great empires did not come into direct contact until the second century after Rome defeated Parthia and controlled the Persian Gulf. Hou Han shu (History of the Latter Han) records that an embassy from Da Qin (a term most scholars agree to denote Rome) arrived in China in 166 CE and was granted audience with Emperor Huan (r. 146-168). If the account is true, the chronology indicates that the embassy was likely dispatched by Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180 CE).

By the fourth century CE, the silk trade had become a huge industry. Soon, Chinese silk was no longer an exclusive material for the Roman elite. Ancient sources tell us that the use of silk had become so popular that it spread to all classes, even to the lowest. The demand of silk continued to increase steadily over the subsequent centuries. In 552 CE, Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565) is said to have sponsored the earliest known case of industrial espionage in history. He sent two Nestorian monks to Central Asia to discover the secret of Chinese silk; they returned to Byzantium with silkworm eggs hidden inside the hollow of their walking sticks. The secret of Chinese silk was finally exposed. From then on, sericulture spread throughout Asia Minor and Europe.

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论文摘要：
网络应用于对外汉语课堂教学的模式和原则
华东师范大学 张建民

网络在汉语教学中的运用可以根据其在学生学习时所占居的地位分成自主式学习和辅助式学习两种模式。
自主式学习模式基本上是利用网络提供学习材料，以学生自学为主。从个体学习角度出发，模式中汉语教师并不占主导地位，也就是说，学习进度和学习效果完全由学生自己掌控，这就会造成群体中个体差异很大，甚至造成学生无法知道自己所学的汉语在生活中是否实用，而实用性正是学生耐心学习的动机之一。另外，语言是在一套规则上产生的，其所产生的句子是无限的，词与词的搭配除了要按语法规则外，还有一个约定俗成的问题，学好一门语言，实际上要经过一个艰苦的练习过程，需要有交流对象，这些对象可以是教师，也可以是同学，但是当前模式中同学和教师都只能处在作为辅助的对象位置上，如果不采取特别措施的话，时间一长，学生的学习积极性就会降低。显然这一模式在汉语的课堂教学中是不宜采用的
辅助式学习则是在传统课堂上引进网络教学手段，将网络上的素材和课堂教学内容有机地结合在一起。由于网络的连结，学生具有的学习环境丰富起来了，其交互性也更强。这主要反映在两个层面上：在教学主体所在的局域网内，教师虽然还在传统的位置上，可以形成“教师 → 教材 → 学生”单向传递链，但是他也可以和学生形成双向传递关系；学生这时所处的地位也和自主式学习模式不一样，可以和教师、同学同时产生双向传递关系，甚至和教材也是。这种双向传递关系的建立正是对外汉语教学所求的更高一个层次上的学习环境。如果说以结构为主的对外汉语教学基本上是建立在单向传递链之上的，是和传统教学环境相适应的话，那么，利用网络教学则更强调双向传递，也就是说更强调语言的交际性，无论如何，它为课堂教学提供传统课堂所不能达到的模拟现实境界，使学生学到了“活生生”的汉语。

二

从现有实践来看，课堂上使用网络应遵循交际性原则、辅助性原则、适度性原则。
1． 交际性
引入网络手段后，交际法所要体现的理念就能得到充分的表现，因为网络可以无限链接，上网的人形形式式，由其形成的交际环境才能真正体现语言的灵活性。既然网络提供了语言教学的交际环境，又比传统教学更具效率，当然汉语教学要根据它的特性——交际性实施教学。就语言自身来说，汉语的语法结构并没有印欧语系那么复杂，一般说来，课堂教学中基本语法点在初级阶段就可以学完，中级和高级阶段主要是学习词语搭配，句式变换，要学好这些，最好的方法就是给学生提供大量的汉语交际环境。因此，利用网络的辅助式学习模式是最为理想的。
2． 辅助性
课堂教学是以教师为中心，还是以学生为中心，一直是语言教学领域争论的一个话题。网络在上述两种方式中所具有的地位也是不同的。以教师为主的学习方式，网络可有可无，不用它照样可以达到学习目标；以学生为主的学习方式，学习和交际环境很重要，教师可以用口述方法去描述交际情景，但没有网络所创设的接近实际的情景那么直观、逼真，可以“有效地激发联想，唤醒长期记忆中的有关知识、经验和表象，从而使学习者能利用自已原有认知结构中的有关知识与经验去同化当前学习到的新知识，赋予新知识以某种意义。” 直观是人们对事物认识的一种最直接的方式，省时省力。也就是说，如果都使用网络的话，后一种教学方式网络所占的比重应该远远大过前一种，用了它可以极大地丰富教学模式，网络已不是可有可无的了。
3． 适度性
对于度的掌握，首先要考虑课型。网络用于语言教学实际上是通过不同的表现元素对学生的感官进行刺激，因此，不同的课型可以采用不同的感官教学方式。汉语听力课主要在于训练学生对话语的理解，可以采用网上的语音材料，也就是以音频的方式为主。汉语会话课，则可考虑使用动画、视频等方式。对于阅读课中的泛读可能只要用文本方式就行了。但是也应看到，并不是说一种课型只能使用特定的感官方式，而是可以根据教学需要作出选择，“事实上，也正是教学上的要求，导致了呈现方式的相互结合和交融。
对外汉语教师自身因素也会影响到对“度”的把握，首先是他们对教材的看法。由于教材的概念有广义和狭义之分，有的教师就可能完全以汉语课本为主，将网络作为调节课堂教学气氛的一种手段，有的教师则会将网上的资料作为课堂教学不可缺的内容之一，这两类教师在教学过程中对使用网络所掌握的度是不一致的。其次是教师本身对网络的熟悉程度，国内的对外汉语教师大多数不是学理工科出身的，他们对现代教育技术的掌握各不相同，有的不擅于操作教学设备，有的不清楚网络的运行原理，因此有的对使用新的教育技术相当陌生，有的则在网络出现问题时不知所措，影响了教学效果，于是心理上就会产生对运用网络的恐惧感，就会采取能不用就不用的态度，这就造成网络的使用率大大降低，课堂教学不能达到最佳境地。
适度性还表现在财力和人力之上。网络所需设备、素材采集的费用对于一般的教学单位来说是很高的。汉语教学需要大量使用音频、视频，教学量大，就需要用不同的服务器来分流，否则即使在局域网中传输也会很慢，教学效果也不会理想。而在终端，还要配置诸如电脑、投影仪等。另外，如果在国际互联网上利用视频会议系统，则需要更大的带宽才能实现，所有这些都要花费很大的财力。

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Bell tower

Dear Colleague:

Thank you for your interest in China Institute’s 2009 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute, From Chang’an to Xi’an: Ancient Capital to Modern Metropolis. The program will take place in Xi’an, China, and will extend over five weeks from Monday, July 6 through Friday, August 7, 2009. The program, open to twenty-five participants, has been designed and will be operated by China Institute’s Teach China program, China Institute’s award-winning professional development program for K-12 teachers.

Since its founding in 1926, China Institute has been dedicated to educating the American public about Chinese culture, history and contemporary life. The Institute’s mission is to advance a deeper understanding of China in the belief that cross-cultural communication strengthens our global community. We are immensely excited about this landmark Summer Institute and we look forward to providing program participants with a truly exhilarating and memorable experience.

Program Overview

The Summer Institute will start on July 6, 2009 with a two-day orientation session in Newark, NJ. We will then depart for Beijing, where we will make a one-day stop on July 9 before moving on to Xi’an for four weeks.

From Chang’an to Xi’an: Ancient Capital to Modern Metropolis will provide a unique opportunity to study the multi-layered history of one of the world’s oldest and magnificent urban centers in situ, focusing on the critical geopolitical importance of what is the present-day Xi’an metropolitan area in the formation of Chinese civilization. The program is structured on a series of lectures and site visits, which in combination will help the participants develop group curriculum projects that they can use to introduce the history of this dynamic city to their students.

The Summer Institute will be held at the International College of Chinese Studies at Shaanxi Normal University (SNU) in Xi’an, one of six premier universities specifically charged with educating teachers by the Chinese Ministry of Education. We will reside in the “old” campus, conveniently located in proximity to the historical Old Xi’an and along Chang’an Road, which runs directly through the old city center. Xi’an and its environs boast some of the most historically and culturally significant resources for understanding Chinese civilization and we invite all K-12 educators to submit an application for this groundbreaking opportunity.

Daily Structure and Program Content

The Summer Institute will meet every weekday for five weeks. We have designed a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary curriculum that will be taught by a dynamic team. The principal faculty member will be Professor Annette Juliano, a renowned Asian art historian at Rutgers University. Her lectures will provide a thread of continuity throughout the Institute and we have invited external experts to speak on a variety of topics. We also added a language learning component to supplement the content courses.

The daily structure of the program is as follows:

During the week, we will begin every morning with a Chinese language lesson, followed by a lecture on the history and culture of Chang’an/Xi’an. In the afternoon, we will continue the “theme of the day” with a site visit to supplement the morning lecture or in a workshop for group discussions with the faculty to develop effective curriculum. In the evening, we will show films occasionally. On the weekends, we have scheduled excursions to sites near Xi’an that will further supplement weekday lectures and activities.

The Institute will begin with a two-day orientation session in Newark, NJ, which will prepare the participants for the extended study experience in China. Practical information about health, safety and communications will be covered, as well as important thematic issues. Once the group arrives in Beijing, the orientation week will continue with an exploration of Beijing, the modern capital of the People’s Republic of China but also an embodiment of China’s recent dynastic past. We will walk the Forbidden City to study the cosmic and political precepts that informed the imperial architecture and spatial layout of the capital. These precepts will be revisited throughout our subsequent exploration of Xi’an and help us discern important contrasts between Xi’an and Beijing. We will also visit the Beijing Urban Planning Museum. We will examine and assess urban changes in the past two centuries, and more importantly, the challenge that they pose to preserving traditional Chinese urban structures — another recurring theme in the Summer Institute. Finally, we will visit the Great Wall at Mutianyu to witness the vestigial monument of the often contentious relationship between the sedentary Chinese and the nomadic peoples. An examination of the history of this relationship will also help us understand and explain the important geographical factors that motivated the establishment of the many less-studied capital cities in North China.

After a brief stay in Beijing, we will take a train to reach Xi’an. Once we’ve arrived at our host institution, Shaanxi Normal University (SNU), we will continue the orientation and allot time to settle and acclimate. During our first week in Xi’an we will make an excursion to Baoji, a region known to be the birthplace of the Zhou civilization (c. 1121 BCE to 249 BCE). Baoji flourished during the Chinese Bronze Age and artifacts from the time have been excavated in large numbers. We will study some of the finest examples at the Baoji Bronze Ware Museum.

During the second week, participants will visit and explore Banpo, a seminal archeological site located east of Xi’an that contains the remnants of a Neolithic village. During this on-site session, participants will be instructed on strategies of interpreting archeological evidence in situ. Subsequent lectures and curriculum workshops will further help the participants understand the evolution of the greater Xi’an region as the site of the capital of the first unified Chinese empire, Xianyang of the Qin Dynasty (221 – 207 BCE). Most of the ancient Xianyang city was destroyed in antiquity, but the First Emperor of Qin’s subterranean necropolis, discovery in the 1970s, testifies to the monumentality of imperial power, a system of government that would endure for the next two millennia in Chinese history. Lastly, we will explore the topographical features of Xi’an and the geopolitical factors that contributed to a succession of subsequent dynastic capitals in this region.

In the third week we will study two great dynasties in Chinese history, the Han (206 BCE – 220 CE) and the Tang (618 – 907 CE). We will begin with an exploration of the Yangling Mausoleum Museum, built on the site of Han Emperor Jing’s necropolis. This funerary monument was built according to a combination of Confucian and Taoist principles to reflect the contemporary worldview and epitomizes the evolution of statecraft and religion from the Qin to the Han. After the reign of Emperor Jing, his son and successor, Emperor Wu, initiated a series of diplomatic and military maneuvers that would lead to the opening of what became known as the Silk Roads. Along this collective international highway that began in Xi’an and terminated in Rome, a multitude of cultures and religions flourished as the result of robust commerce. A key focus of our study on the Silk Roads will be Buddhism, which was first transmitted to China during the Han dynasty. We will examine the evolving relationship of this foreign religion, which reached an historical pinnacle during the Tang dynasty, with the native belief systems, Confucianism and Taoism. Visits to Buddhist sites and Tang imperial tombs will further supplement the lectures and workshops on the multifaceted Tang civilization, including the construction of the magnificent imperial city known as Chang’an.

The focus of our study during the fourth week will be the history of Chang’an, a cosmopolitan city populated by a diversity of peoples of different religions and ethnicities. The legacy of Chang’an is still evident today in its large Muslim population, and we will visit the Great Mosque, built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 CE) and still in use, to study the history of Islam in China. We will then shift our historical focus to the present day and examine the legacy of Xi’an in modern Chinese history. We will make a special trip to Yan’an, where the then-struggling Communist Army progressively gained the support of the rural mass using various modes of propaganda. Our study will include a fieldtrip to a film studio that has played an important role in the history of Chinese media.

In the final week of the Summer Institute, participants will examine and assess issues pertinent to the economic and social changes in contemporary China, using Xi’an as a case study. A visit to Huxian, a rural village, will give the participants a rare opportunity to identify traditional elements in contemporary Chinese society. We will learn about the shifts in social and economic policies in the past twenty-five years, and scrutinize the impact of these changes on family structure and gender relations. We will conclude the Institute with an assessment of the current practice of city-planning in Xi’an that synergizes sustained commercial development, ecological and environmental protection, and conservation and preservation of cultural heritage.

Readings and Writings

Living and studying in a foreign country where one does not speak the language may seem daunting, but with proper preparation, it can be an intensely rewarding and memorable experience. China Institute requires that all accepted participants complete two preparatory texts, In Search of Modern China, by Jonathan Spence, and Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook, edited by Patricia Ebrey, prior to their participation in the Summer Institute. Copies of these books will be sent to accepted applicants in advance of the orientation in Newark; they will provide both historical and contemporary background for understanding China. In addition, relevant articles will be posted on a password- protected website during the course of the program. Participants will have access to computers available in a library specifically reserved for our Institute’s use. The bulk of the curriculum work participants will be responsible for will be based on archaeological and cultural resources in Xi’an and therefore we do not expect participants to be heavily involved in reading during the Institute. For those participants interested in pursuing particular topics in further detail, we will provide a list of supplemental readings.
Curriculum units, based on one of the topics addressed during the Institute, will be developed by small working groups consisting of five participants. Groups will be organized according to grade level. The curriculum units will include digital photographs of at least one of the archeological or cultural sites we visit to help illustrate the chosen topic. Groups will first brainstorm and then choose a grade-relevant curriculum topic and each member of the group will subsequently develop a curriculum instructional exercise consistent with the chosen topic. Completed curriculum projects, including the mandatory visual components, will be due in early Fall 2009 to be reviewed and critiqued by Professor Juliano. China Institute staff will work closely with the groups to ensure that the units are developed according to a format readily adaptable for web posting, as they will eventually be available on China Institute’s website.

Faculty and Staff

Dr. Annette Juliano, Professor of Asian Art at Rutgers University will be the principal faculty member for the entire duration of the Summer Institute. Dr. Juliano is a prominent scholar of Asian art history and a founding member of China Institute’s Gallery Committee. Her approach to the study of art history is object-based and her area of specialization is sculpture of pre-Tang and Tang Dynasty China. Professor Juliano has curated two major exhibitions and is the author and editor of three critical works on the subject of cultural exchanges in western China. Her most recent exhibition catalogue, Buddhist Sculpture in China: Selections from the Xi’an Beilin Museum, concerns objects from the famed museum known as the Forest of Steles (Beilin), which we will visit during the Summer Institute. Professor Juliano holds a Ph.D. in Asian Art from New York University’s Institute of Fine Art, where she specialized in Chinese art. Her career spans twenty-five years in both teaching and university administration, most recently as Associate Dean for Academic Affiars at Rutgers University-Newark. She has worked extensively in Xi’an and will be an exceptionally valuable resource to the participants in developing their curriculum units.

Dr. Hsin-Mei Agnes Hsu, Director of Education and Dean of the Confucius Institute at China Institute, is Program Director of the Summer Institute. Dr. Hsu is an International Expert to UNESCO World Heritage Centre and has served on two serial-nomination committees, the Quapag Ñan (the Main Andean Road) and the Silk Roads, for which she authored “The Exceptional Universal Value of the Road Systems in Ancient Empires: A Comparative Study of the Chinese Oasis Route of the Early Silk Road and the Qhapag Ñan.” Dr. Hsu taught Chinese archaeology at Brown University and was a Mellon Foundation research scholar at Stanford University and the Needham Research Institute at Cambridge University, UK. Dr. Hsu is a scholar of Han archaeology, with training in Classical archaeology. She has published on ancient Chinese cartography and comparative issues of early empires, respectively in “An Emic Perspective of the Mapmaker’s Art in Western Han China” (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 3, 17, 4, 2007) and “Structured Perceptions of Real and Imagined Landscapes in Early Imperial China” in Geography, Ethnography, and Perceptions of the World from Antiquity to the Renaissance. Dr. Hsu received her graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Kevin Lawrence, Associate Director of China Institute’s professional development program for educators, Teach China, is Project Coordinator for the Summer Institute. Mr. Lawrence earned his undergraduate and Master’s degrees in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa, and conducted doctoral research in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Mr. Lawrence speaks fluent Chinese; he has led many study tours throughout China and has worked closely with staff and personnel at Shaanxi Normal University. As Project Coordinator, Mr. Lawrence will manage all logistics including transportation and accommodations, and will be available to assist participants with day-to-day arrangements.

Applicants, Applications and Stipends

K-12 educators from all disciplines and all parts of the country are invited to apply. The Institute’s contents will likely be most relevant for social studies and history teachers. However, educators in other fields, especially those who can make the case that their curriculum goals would be strengthened and enriched by the Institute experience, are encouraged to apply as well. Preference will be given to educators who will utilize the institute’s contents in their professional lives. One expectation is that all participants will introduce the China-related knowledge they gain at the institute to their classrooms, regardless of the discipline. A total of twenty-five participants will be selected.

Complete application information and instructions are available on our website at www.chinainstitute.org/educators/NEH2009. Three copies of the completed application must be sent to China Institute using a package-tracking service, available via U.S. Mail or private carriers, and must be postmarked no later than March 2, 2009. Please address your application package to:

Mr. Kevin Lawrence
From Chang’an to Xi’an
China Institute
125 East 65th Street
New York, NY 10065

We will not accept faxed or emailed applications; they will be discarded without notification. If you have specific questions that are not answered either in this letter or on our website, please contact Kevin Lawrence at 212-744-8181, ext. 129; or by email at klawrence@chinainstitute.org.

The most important part of the application is the essay that must be submitted as part of the completed application. This essay should include the following components: any relevant personal and academic information, reasons for applying to this particular NEH project, intellectual and personal interests in the topic, qualifications to complete the work of the project successfully, expected contribution to the intellectual community that will form during and after the Institute, expectations to accomplish by participation, and connection of the contents of the Summer Institute and your teaching.

Participants will receive a total stipend of $3,800 to be used for housing, transportation, and living costs for this five-week institute.

Accommodations, Costs, and Meals

Housing will be provided at Shaanxi Normal University’s compound designated for foreign visitors. Participants will have single rooms with bath facilities. The rooms are modest but clean and comfortable, and air conditioning is available. Accommodations are roughly equivalent to a three-star hotel in China and costs $37 per day; breakfast is included. Laundry, internet, phone cards and other facilities to meet daily necessities are all available on and/or near campus, and staff will be available to assist in arranging to meet any reasonable needs that the participants might have. Participants considering seeking more up-scale accommodations in Xi’an must do so on their own, and must make the arrangements far in advance of the departure date. China Institute will require all participants seeking alternative housing options to submit evidence of advance reservations. There is no housing availability on campus to accommodate spouses, significant others, children, or other types of family members. Anyone who wishes to join a participant is wholly responsible for his or her own travel arrangements to and from China, as well as all lodging and others arrangements once in China. Staff members are dedicated to help our participants and will not be available to provide any assistance to non-participants. Please note that the NEH strictly forbids any visitors to the seminar sessions and visitors will not be able to join in group excursions to historical or cultural sites.

The institute stipend is $3,800 for the five-week program and all participants must be active members of the Institute for the entire duration. China Institute will arrange for a round-trip group flight ticket (Newark, New Jersey-Beijing), which will cost approximately $1,400. We will also arrange for lodging in Beijing at around $150 for a shared room, and a round-trip train ticket between Beijing and Xi’an, which will cost approximately $300. We require that all participants purchase traveler’s insurance in case of emergency, which is priced at $3.75 per day. An itemized list of anticipated costs that China Institute will deduct from the allotted stipend to pay for these group arrangements is as follows:

$1,400 round-trip international flight
$ 150 double occupancy in Beijing
$ 300 round-trip domestic train ticket
$1,147 accommodations at SNU for 31 days
$123.75 traveler’s insurance for 33 days
_______
$3,120.75

Participants are responsible for transportation to and from Newark, and participants must arrive in Newark no later than 9:00 AM on Monday, July 6; there will be no exceptions. The orientation session will take place at a hotel near the Newark International Airport (to be negotiated soon) and participants can share a double for approximately $60 a night (we fly out on Tuesday afternoon, July 7th). Participants are responsible for obtaining their own visas and will need to cover all meals and living expenses. As you can see, the stipend will cover a good portion of the cost of traveling and living in China for five weeks but not all of it. Participants should anticipate spending at least $500 out-of-pocket and possibly more, depending on one’s daily habits. ATMs are readily available, but participants should check with their banks and credit card companies in advance to ensure that they can reliably use them in China.
Participants will have a wide range of dining options in and around SNU’s campus, but please keep in mind that we will be in a foreign country with a tasty but different cuisine from that found at home. Participants with strict dietary restrictions may be hard-pressed to find convenient dining options especially given the language barrier. There are area restaurants that feature “Western” cuisine, but the Chinese version of “Western” food may strike you as unexpected as American versions of “Chinese” food are unfamiliar to Chinese people. There are many places to buy groceries in the neighborhood and fast food joints (McDonald’s and KFC) are as plentiful in Xi’an as they are in Anywhere, USA. We encourage you to view your dining experiences as one more opportunity to learn about China. Our experience with educators from other study tour programs has been that they quickly adapt to Chinese cuisine, learn to savor tea instead of coffee, and often miss the sumptuous distinctiveness of Chinese cuisine once they return to the United States.

* * *

We hope we have answered most of the questions you may have as you consider applying for this NEH Summer Institute. If you know of any colleagues or fellow educators who might be interested in the From Chang’an to Xi’an: Ancient Capital to Modern Metropolis Summer Institute, we invite you to share this program information with them.

The application form will be available for downloading on the China Institute website at www.chinainstitute.org/educators/NEH2009 starting November 25, 2008. If you prefer to receive the application by post, please send a request by email or by phone to my colleague Kevin Lawrence at klawrence@chinainstitute.org.

We look forward to receiving and reading your application. Thank you for your interest in joining our team in Xi’an.

Hsin-Mei Agnes Hsu, Ph.D.

Director of Education
Dean of the Confucius Institute at China Institute
China Institute

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