News Archives - 2011

Building more links between Minnesota and China

The links between Minnesotan and Chinese private colleges grew this week at the Joint Faculty Professional Development Institute, which met at Augsburg College from June 19-23. The institute is a product of two years of planning between the China Consortium members of the Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC), United International College (UIC) in Zhuhai, China, and Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) in Hong Kong.

The five-day institute involved eight faculty from UIC in China and eight faculty from seven Minnesota private colleges, including Augsburg. The Institute is under the direction of Diane Pike, Professor of Sociology at Augsburg, assisted by Theresa Kwong, Senior Teaching and Learning Officer at The Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning at HKBU.

"We have learned about the rewards and challenges of teaching that we have in common," Pike said. "It has also been wonderful to learn about the cultural differences and to benefit from thinking about things in new ways. The colleagues from UIC and from the set of Minnesota private colleges have collaborated to advance their understanding of teaching and learning in a liberal-arts setting. It has been an invigorating week and we look forward our visit to China in November to continue our learning."

The Institute focuses on professional teaching practices and student learning in both China and the United States. The meeting at Augsburg will be followed by a conference in Zhuhai, China on November 14-17, 2011.