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Global Engagement

University Announces Center in Beijing

President Zimmer announced in April the University would open a major new center in Beijing, China, supporting collaborations between scholars and students from China and Chicago, across academic disciplines. Zimmer said the Center in Beijing, which opened in September, represents the University’s long-term commitment to building relationships in China to foster research and education and to exchange and test ideas that will benefit scholars, students, and society. “After more than a century of significant research collaborations between China and Chicago, the center will provide a focus for building upon that legacy,” said Zimmer. The center will promote scholarship through three broad programs: business, economics, and policy; science, medicine, and public health; and culture, society, and the arts. It will house the University’s Civilization Abroad program for College students and will involve all the University’s areas of study, including the professional schools.

Yang Appointed Faculty Director of New Center in Beijing

Professor Dali Yang, a leading scholar of political institutions and political economy in China, is the first faculty director of the University of Chicago Center in Beijing. Yang, who previously chaired the faculty committee that in 2008 recommended creating the center, will serve a three-year term. He has held a variety of University administrative responsibilities, most recently as director of the Center for East Asian Studies. In his new role, he has overall responsibility for ensuring that the center meets the needs of UChicago scholars in China, from undergraduates up through senior faculty. With a steering committee, he will help shape and support the center’s intellectual direction and programming.

Faculty Recommend University Institute in India

In February, a faculty committee studying the University’s engagement in India recommended the creation of an institute for advanced study in New Delhi. The proposal outlined an official University presence in India that would interact with, support, and promote intellectual activities already in progress in the University and deepen the University’s capacity for scholarship and teaching in connection with India. The institute would contribute to the intellectual, political, and cultural life of India, and open UChicago’s campus and faculty to new voices and insights from India. The institute would also provide a new focal point for the University’s large and committed alumni community in India.

Paris Center Celebrates Five Years of Global Engagement

The University’s Center in Paris celebrated its fifth anniversary as a hub for interdisciplinary study for bilingual and English-speaking scholars. Originally based on the success of the University’s Civilization Abroad programs, the center also draws more than 200 undergraduates each year. Both undergraduate and graduate students study under University faculty, with the same academic rigor that is a hallmark of a University of Chicago education. The center’s commitment to bringing a UChicago education to a new setting, while maximizing scholarly collaboration internationally, stems from the same goals that have helped shape the University’s growing global presence.