The Wisconsin China Initiative was launched in 2007 to both serve as the contact point for information about UW-Madison connections with Greater China and to bring together cross-disciplinary faculty, alumni and leaders in business and government. The Initiative is housed in the Division of International Studies. It is staffed by Associate Director Laurie Dennis, and directed by Professor Nicole Huang
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Forum April 24 is on UW’s growing engagement in China
A public forum titled “Why China? Why Wisconsin? Why now?” will highlight the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s growing engagement with the Greater China region and the importance of advancing these initiatives further.
A diverse panel of speakers will address a variety of topics, including Wisconsin’s historic ties with China through decades of scholarly exchange, the strategic importance of China to the state and its private sector, increased academic exchanges with China as exemplified by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and UW–Madison’s Shanghai Innovation Office, which opened last June.
The forum, sponsored by the Wisconsin China Initiative, will be held Wednesday, April 24, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., in the DeLuca Forum (Room 1255), at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, 330 N. Orchard St. The event is free and open to the public.
“Further strengthening ongoing efforts to engage the Greater China region is of vital importance to the present and future of UW–Madison,” says Nicole Huang, director of the Wisconsin China Initiative. “We must continue to build upon and expand our strong academic tradition in all areas and disciplines as related to that region. The urgency has to do with our core educational mission, for our students, faculty, alumni, and the future of the State of Wisconsin.”
Click here to read the full article and see the list of panelists.
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WCI announced new round of Shanghai Seminar funding
The Wisconsin China Initiative is pleased to announce the second Call for Proposals for the Shanghai Seminar Series.
This call will result in awarding grants of $8-10,000 for up to two seminars to be held in China, preferably in Shanghai, in the upcoming academic year. Applications are due Friday, May 3. Click here to see a PDF of the full proposal.
The inaugural Shanghai Seminar was held March 27-30, and connected three professors from our School of Education with the Shanghai International Studies University to hold an international conference on Language Education Policy. The website for that event can be found by clicking on the icon below.
Please contact the Wisconsin China Initiative by email, or at 265-6640, if you have questions about a proposal for a Shanghai Seminar.
Click here to read about the first Shanghai Seminar.
"China has the largest population of foreign language learners in the world. Shanghai has had 30 years of teaching English and more than 10 years of bilingual education in the elementary classroom, but still lacks effective teacher development programs. The Chinese are looking for solutions and they are open to teaching other languages besides English. We want to look at how to resolve problems and ask 'what solutions can we bring to them?'" --François Victor Tochon, conference organizer
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West High Students take up Chinese brushes
With a long, practiced twist of his brush, Chinese artist Wang Kegang 王可刚added a tail to complete his rendition of a squirrel. Students in Barbara Drews’ West High School art class watched spell-bound.
That was in December. Just in time for the Chinese New Year, Wang made a second visit to the Madison public school, this time to demonstrate Chinese calligraphy to social studies students in Kathleen Doherty’s regional studies course on China.
“You go from left to right, and from top to bottom,” Wang explained to the students as he taught them how to write, stroke by stroke, the character 福, or “fu,” which means “luck” in Chinese. Since this visit took place the Friday before the Chinese New Year, which starts Feb. 10, the class used red New Year paper for their lucky calligraphy.
Wang is a visiting scholar from Northeast Normal University’s Academy of Fine Arts in Changchun, Jilin Province. He and his wife, a visiting scholar in education, are spending the year at UW-Madison.
Click here to learn read the full story.
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Badger alumni watch Rose Bowl from Shanghai
SHANGHAI, China – Members of the Wisconsin Alumni Association's Shanghai Chapter (above) turned out to welcome the new year by watching the Badgers football team play in the Rose Bowl. That required gathering at 6 a.m. Shanghai time on Jan. 2 to catch the game live. The Badgers joined the Stanford Club of Shanghai at the Big Bamboo restaurant. After the exciting game, which Stanford won, 20-14, WAA Shanghai Chapter President Neville Lam (second from left in the photo) briefly captured the Stanford Club flag. As Mr. Lam reported, "What we lost on the field in Pasadena was more than made up for by our enthusiastic cheering in Shanghai. There is always next year."
Go Badgers!
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Shanghai Dairy Group prepares for new training program using UW-Madison expertise
Shen Weiping, president of Shanghai Dairy Group, led a delegation to Madison in November to discuss new partnerships with the Dairy State.
The delegation spent a day on campus touring UW-Madison facilities, including the Babcock Dairy Plant, and meeting with colleagues in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS). UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward (pictured at right with President Shen at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery) hosted the group for lunch. The delegation also toured Wisconsin farms and spent time with representatives of the State of WIsconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trande and Consumer Protection.
Chancellor Ward first met President Shen in Shanghai in June, when the two signed a Letter of Intent encouraging collaborations. Now Shanghai Dairy Group - one of the oldest and largest dairy companies in China - is working on a long-term partnership with CALS' Babcock Institute for International Dairy Research. The new program is envisioned to include regular training sessions in Shanghai about such issues as food safety and animal nutrition. To read the CALS report on the recent delegation visit, click on "Chinese dairy group and CALS Babcock Institute establish new training partnership," which includes a podcast with Babcock Institute Director Karen Nielsen.
Photo above by CALS communications specialist Sevie Kenyon
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Microblogging Chinese Style: Sina Weibo gets Badger Account
by Laurie Dennis
When UW-Madison computer science alum Tuo Wang (pictured below) saw the growing success of Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, he wanted to make sure his alma mater did not miss out. So in early 2011, he applied for an account, securing the user name “UW-Madison” for the Badgers.
 “I had my personal account, but I saw no UW account,” Wang said. “Weibo was already very popular in China, which made me realize that it could be a great way to promote UW-Madison to the Chinese, and also establish connections between UW-Madison and Chinese faculty, education organizations, etc.”
“UW-Madison” now has more than 1,700 followers and this month became one of the few American university accounts to have the coveted “V” certification, meaning that it has been “verified” by Sina Weibo. The site offers links to the UW-Madison home page, the Wisconsin China Initiative, the “Share the Wonderful” annual campaign, and to photos of the new UW-Madison Shanghai Innovation Office. Recent posts describe Homecoming events, fall leaf color at Devil’s Lake and the visit to UW-Madison by President Barack Obama. Click here to read the full article ...
Click on www.weibo.com/badgers to visit the UW-Madison account!
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