SAMANTHA BLONS
Assistant News Editor
Students looking for a more exotic international experience than the standard European ones can now apply to join the first class of the newest Pepperdine international program: Shanghai, China.
As an international business hub and an urban center of China’s booming economy, Shanghai will be an ideal program for students who hope to eventually work in the global business world, according to Dr. Charles Hall, dean of International Programs.
“This next century is the century of China,” Hall said. “I think more and more students are going to see, particularly business majors, that these places are economic powers and there’s a load of opportunities. If we are serious about our mission of service to the world, our understanding of the world, and being a global leader, our students have got to go to China.”
The new Shanghai program will replace Pepperdine’s fall semester program Hong Kong, started in 2004. Whereas the 23 students currently in Hong Kong reside and study at Hong Kong Baptist University, Shanghai students will live together in a Pepperdine residence similar to those at the programs at Heidelberg, London and Florence.
Dr. Thomas Reilly, associate professor of Chinese history, said Shanghai is the perfect place for a China program, as a cosmopolitan city rich in both Chinese history and business opportunities. Reilly will be joining the first group of students in Shanghai next year as the visiting faculty member.
“[Shanghai has] always been a mix of the two cultures: East and West,” he said. “It’s always been on the cutting edge of where China wants to be. Students will get a sense not only of the business opportunities, but also the excitement of being able to witness the rise of this new China.”
Though the Shanghai program is expected to draw fewer applicants than the popular European ones, the university has seen a recent increase in the number of students looking to study in Asia, with 34 students attending the Hong Kong and Thailand programs this year.
After three years of studying Chinese, freshman Jocelyn Kelly said she will apply for the Shanghai program so she can practice the language and hopefully become fluent.
“It’s a fascinating city and culture, and China is starting to be a world market for us,” said Kelly, a business major.
For freshman Nathan Yang, family ties and several years of studying Chinese draw him to apply for the new program.
“My dad’s family is from Shanghai,” Yang said. “I want the chance to use the language I’ve been learning, to see where my family came from and to eat some good Chinese food.
The Shanghai program will be much like Pepperdine’s European ones, in that students will live in a university-owned facility, attend classes four days a week, travel on weekends and participate in a week-long educational field trip to another country each semester.
However, unlike most of the European programs, in which students begin studying the country’s language before arriving overseas, most students will leave for Shanghai without any prior knowledge of the Chinese language. Instead, most will enroll in their beginner Chinese course once they get to Shanghai.
As of yet, International Programs has not purchased a house in which next years’ students can live. Reilly said they know where they want it to be though — in the area of the former French Concession, near the U.S. Embassy.
Though the European programs boast many famous cities nearby for students to visit on weekends, Shanghai too allows for exotic day trips just hours away from the industrialized, modern metropolis, Reilly said.
A two-to-three hour train ride will transport students to the historical sites at Hangzhou and Suzhou. He also recommends visiting Hong Kong, Tibet, Mongolia, Beijing, Guilin, and Japan on longer trips.
Junior Dustin Ward spent three months in Shanghai this summer, taking classes at a local university and tutoring children in English. He had previously attended the Pepperdine summer program in Heidelberg, and enjoyed how inexpensive everything was in Shanghai.
“When I was in Heidelberg I spent a lot of money,” Ward said. But the restaurants, hotels, transportation and food are all much cheaper in Shanghai than in Europe or America.
“When I was in China, I could live on $2 or $3 a day, and eat a lot.”
Ward found that many young people in Shanghai speak English, he said, and recommends the city for its tourist-friendly, global population and business opportunities.
“[For] business majors, I would make it imperative to do this program,” he said. “This city is all about business.“
09-06-2007
