Hopkins has launched the China STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine) program to apply the Chinese language to growing academic fields for career purposes in partnership with Nanjing University. Beginning in the summer of 2012, this eight-week long summer program of study will take place in the Hopkins-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies.
The China STEM program will offer undergrads, graduate students, professionals, post-doctoral fellows and researchers courses that seek to bridge the language barriers between Chinese and American scientists and engineers. It will present these students with the language skills necessary to excel in a career in science, technology, engineering or medicine. The program offers a mixture of intensive language training in small classes, research seminars, personal interactions with Chinese scholars and scientists and experiential visits to other institutions such as laboratories, hospitals, and academic institutions in Nanjing and Beijing.
"No other program offers Chinese language for engineering and health sciences--even though general intensive language programs and business Chinese programs have become popular offerings at many institutions," Tyree Powell, the academic program coordinator for Hopkins's East Asian Studies Department, wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter.
The China STEM program does not align with a specific major, but seeks to appeal to students interested in medical, public health or engineering careers. Scholars and professionals in these technical fields have continuously lacked proficiency in the Chinese language despite the growing necessity for such a capability.
"We imagine a future in which Chinese language will be essentially important to specialists in medicine, public health and engineering--and we look forward to providing language training to students who also share that vision," Powell wrote.
There has been a scarcity in classes for Chinese language training in the United States, despite the influx of classes in "Business Chinese" that have become increasingly prevalent. China is a burgeoning center of scientific and technological advancement; the international nature of scientific research and scholarship necessitates effective communication with the Chinese.
Hopkins aims to train a new generation of American scientists that possess the advantage of bilingualism as science globalizes, especially with China's growing role. This new generation will gain the possibility of obtaining careers in Asia.
"Running the program from Hopkins-Nanjing Center will capitalize on the Center's reputation within China for cross-cultural training and networking; our overall strength in medicine, engineering, and science; and Nanjing University's outstanding community of scholars and researchers," Powell wrote.
The China STEM program was proposed in 2009, and now, three years later, all applicants are welcome to vie for participation in this prestigious and unique program. Hopkins students, students from other universities, and professionals may apply for admission. The program's director is Dr. Ninping Yu.
Specifically, the program is geared for applicants who have three years of college-level training in Mandarin Chinese or the equivalent and who aspire to academic or professional occupations in engineering or the health sciences, such as in public health, nursing and medicine.
"We are looking for students with a passion for science and commitment to language learning. We think that combination will work to their advantage in today's job market. Living and working in China after college transformed my life--and I think it will be great for my career in the long term," Powell wrote. "[The program] will also open [students'] eyes to a fast changing society and a very different way of thinking about and doing science, medicine, and engineering."
Admitted students arrive in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, at the end of June 2012. Classes will commence in Nanjing on Monday, June 25 and end on Friday, August 17 in Beijing. In June and July, students live at the recently renovated Hopkins-Nanjing Center on the campus of Nanjing University and transition to the campus of Peking University in Beijing at the end of July.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.