Presidents Chen and Weisenstein exchanged gifts
including this Chinese fan painting of
Philips Memorial Building from Chen.

President of China’s Guizhou University Visits Campus

On Nov. 5, Chen Shuping, the president of Guizhou University in China, met with West Chester University President Greg Weisenstein and other WCU administrators to explore the expansion of the ongoing cultural exchange between the two institutions.

Like Weisenstein, Chen is a strong advocate for international education. A recognized and accomplished mathematics scholar, teacher and researcher, he is considered among China’s outstanding leaders in higher education.

Accompanied by Guizhou administrators Dean Yang and Dean An, Chen and the WCU officers explored proposals for new collaborative programs and research projects that would benefit faculty and students from both institutions. Guizhou University is a world leader in international education with partnerships with 40 universities in the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

WCU is committed to internationalizing its teaching and scholarship,” says William Lalicker, a professor of English and director of West Chester’s Global Development Collaborative. “Complementary studies that provide international perspectives are vital to students who live and work in the globalized 21st century and WCU recognizes the global importance of the nation and culture of China.”

West Chester University has collaborated with Guizhou University for a number of years. In 2005, WCU faculty shared scholarly work in a joint international conference on the GU campus. In 2006, five WCU music professors traveled to China to present a three-week joint music program with Guizhou’s College of Arts to selected students from WCU and GU. In 2008, WCU Department of Art faculty exhibited recent works on the GU campus in conjunction with lectures by department chair John Baker and a photography course taught by WCU mathematics professor Lin Tan.

In exchange, Guizhou has sent faculty to the West Chester community: GU faculty artists have held exhibitions at WCU; GU dance faculty have shared performances at WCU; photography by Andi Yang, visiting artist from GU, was on display in Mitchell Hall Gallery through Nov. 6. GU music students have also studied at WCU.

Founded in 1902 as Guizhou Institute of Higher Learning, Guizhou University is today the largest coeducational public university in Southwest China, enrolling more than 32,000 students on its campuses. GU comprises 20 colleges and offers programs leading to associate, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees, as well as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers Program in which volunteers teach in the School of Foreign Languages.