Activities
China Business and Culture Summer Program
The 6-credit academic program is designed to provide students with the opportunity to explore, experience, and examine business and culture in China today. The program is open to any full-time Notre Dame undergraduate who is in good academic standing. Previous study of Chinese is not required. The program situates its learning environment in the 4 major cities of Greater China: Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai. Prof. Jonathan Noble teaches the course “Culture in China Today,” which provides a general introduction to China's history, cultures, and peoples and explores the ways in which culture intersects with the business world. Prof. George Enderle instructs the course “Business in China Today,” which explores how Chinese, joint venture, companies and foreign companies operate in China. The Office of International Studies and Asia Office jointly coordinate the program.
This summer, the program runs from May 19 to June 29 with 21 juniors, sophomores and freshmen from Mendoza College of Business, College of Arts and Letters, College of Science and First Year of Studies. While traveling in the metropolises, students visit major Chinese and international companies, attend lectures by guest professors and business leaders, and interact with Chinese students both in formal and informal settings. This helps prepare them for developing both the knowledge and practical skills that are necessary in a rapidly globalizing world. Lecture topics this year covered Chinese art, law, media, government & politics, history, religions, andyouth culture, in addition to business management. Formal visits included the Far Eastern Group, the American Institute in Taiwan, IBM China Research Lab, Reuters, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Shanghai World Financial Center, Franklin Templeton Sealand Fund Management, Baosteel Group Corporation, among others. In Taiwan and Beijing, students conducted group research projects about youth culture with students from Yuan Ze University and the University of International Business and Economics. Students also have time for visits to significant cultural and historical sites including the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, Hong Kong National GeoPark, and the Taipei 101 skyscraper.
