The Office of Chinese Language Council International, or Hanban, has cleared the way for Auburn University at Montgomery to establish a Confucius Institute on campus, joining a network of more than 300 organizations worldwide to promote Chinese language and culture. “We are incredibly proud to be able to establish the AUM Confucius Institute, and we consider our partnership with the Office of Chinese Language Council International one of this university’s highest honors,” said AUM Chancellor John G. Veres III. “This achievement is a testament to the vision and hard work of all those associated with AUM’s Far Eastern Initiatives and to the relationships we have built with the faculty, staff and students of our 33 sister universities in China.”
Veres and Special Assistant to the Chancellor
Yaw-Chin Ho, head of the AUM Office of Far Eastern Initiatives, traveled to Beijing in late March, where they formalized the university’s partnership with Hanban at its headquarters. Hubei University of Economics, located in Wuhan, has been assigned as AUM’s academic partner in China.
The AUM Confucius Institute will promote Chinese language and culture both on campus and in the surrounding community, including local K-12 schools. In September, the university will dedicate a Confucius Garden on campus, with guests from Hanban traveling from China to take part in the event and celebrate the new institute.
Established in 2004 to promote the teaching of Chinese culture and language abroad, Confucius Institutes are non-profit public organizations aligned with the Chinese government through the Ministry of Education. They are named in honor of Confucius, a Chinese politician, teacher and philosopher who lived 551-479 BC.
The AUM Office of Far Eastern Initiatives provides support to international visitors from the Asian Pacific, including visiting scholars, administrators and students. AUM already has exchange agreements in place with 33 universities in China.
March 23 Signing Ceremony in Beijing
Reporting by Buffy Lockette