The School, Professors and Students – How Internationalized Fudan Is (1)

Today’s focus will be on the trend towards internationalization at Fudan University. Universities develop a steady supply of talents for the society; so seeing how internationalized Fudan currently is, firms my belief even more so in a statement made by a lot of scholars– Shanghai will become an international centre for trade, finance, culture… in the near future.

It is not surprising that Fudan, as the best university in Shanghai, attracts many foreign students and scholars to come and conduct research or pursue further studies every year. Now that I am studying with the local students everyday, I am able to get a glimpse of how they are exposed to the outside world, and are trying hard to “internationalize” themselves. Below are some general observations I have made.

An obvious example would be the large number of seminars and conferences held at Fudan. Diplomats or scholars from other parts of the world are invited to speak to the local scholars and students. In this aspect at least, Fudan is no difference from U of T.

In addition, Fudan maintains exchange partnerships with many universities worldwide. The biggest one, I believe, would be its exchange program with the University of California. I was told by a fellow student that in the fall semester, over 70 students from Fudan participated in the exchange program and studied at different UC schools (UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, etc.). Next year (or semester?) there will be 100. There are undergraduate courses co-sponsored by Fudan and the UC (and also other universities in the world).

Also, there are degree students from South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the Americas and Europe… studying together with the local students in the same classes. That means the local students would be able to interact with the foreign students and practice their English speaking skills (even though the Koreans and the Japanese tend to form their own social networks).

Other than that, many faculty members and guest lecturers are from other parts of the world. This results in many courses, even at the undergraduate level, being taught in English. Even the local Chinese professors tend more to teach bilingually, and to assign readings in English more frequently. All of the above improve not only the English speaking and listening skills, but also the reading and writing skills of the local students at Fudan.

(To be continued…)