by Whitney Hale, Derrick Meads

(May 27, 2014) — Last week, 15 UK faculty taught students at Shanghai University (SHU) in China through the UK Confucius Institute’s (UKCI) “UK Faculty China Short-Term Teaching Program,” which ran June 16-20.

The program fostered global literacy throughout UK’s multiple disciplines by embedding UK faculty members in SHU’s departments where they taught students for one week, met professional colleagues, identified shared research interests and gained key insights into China that they can then share with their students in Kentucky.

"Students need to know how knowledge is created, disseminated and used in a commercial and global environment of commerce," said Susan Carvalho, associate provost for internationalization. "By sending UK faculty from a broad range of disciplines to teach at Shanghai University – some of whom have never been to China – they will return with global experiences and perspectives that will be infused across campus.”

Following the teaching week, UK Provost Christine Riordan, Carvalho and UKCI Director Huajing Maske joined the visiting UK faculty to celebrate “UK Week at SHU,” from June 23-27.

During “UK Week at SHU” members of the UK delegation gave lectures providing Shanghai University faculty the opportunity to connect with UK’s disciplinary and academic expertise.

The UK Confucius Institute held a similar “UK Week” at Jilin University in Spring 2012. Seven UK deans led by Interim Provost Tim Tracy spent five days at Jilin University giving academic talks, and meeting with their counterparts to discuss collaborative opportunities.

The UK-JLU Collaborative Framework was established as a result of “UK Week” at Jilin University, which includes a 2+2 agreement and faculty exchange agreement with the Gatton College of Business and Economics; and a 4+2 agreement with the College of Public Health. Partnerships with UK’s Computer Science Department, College of Communication and Information and College of Arts & Sciences are still being negotiated.

“Based on our great success at Jilin, the UK faculty who are teaching at SHU this summer and our strategic partnership with SHU, we decided to hold another “UK Week” at SHU,” said Maske, “This week-long event will deepen our ties with SHU and provide a base for future research collaborations.” 

Maske is hoping “UK Week at SHU” will help UK faculty find opportunities to access research dollars that are available in China through collaborative research. “There are considerable resources that UK faculty can access in China that will help them fund their research, access data and increase opportunities to publish.”

Faculty teaching at Shanghai University this summer through the program are:

· Steven Paul Alvarez, assistant professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies;

· Rita Basuray, a visiting lecturer at UK College of Arts and Sciences;

· Anne Wehrley Björk, instructor in Design Workshop at UK School Art and Visual Studies;

· Lars G. Björk, professor in the Department of Educational Leadership Studies;

· Julia M. Johnson, associate professor of English and director of the UK Creative Writing Program;

· Miles Osland, director of Jazz Studies and professor of saxophone;

· Kevin Real, associate professor of communication;

· Lynne K. Rieske-Kinney, associate professor of forest entomology;

· Buck Ryan, director of the Citizen Kentucky Project at UK’s Scripps Howard First Amendment Center and associate professor of journalism;  

· Mark Stuhlfaut, assistant professor in integrated strategic communications at UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications;

· Karen Tice, chair of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies with a joint appointment in the Department of Educational Policy Studies;

· Ernest J. Yanarella, chair of the Political Science Department, associate director of the Center for Sustainable Cities and director of Environmental Studies Program; and

· Guoqiang Yu, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

For more information on each faculty member, click here.