by Dr. Maureen Rubin, Dr. Lynette Henderson and Dr. Meiqin Wang
This past summer, Dr. Maureen Rubin, the associate dean of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication (MCCAMC), led Dr. Lynette Henderson and Dr. Meiqin Wang, two Art Department faculty, on a delegation visit to China designed to develop collaboration between CSUN and universities in Shanghai and Wuhan. Wang and Henderson were also on a separate mission to research art education in China, partially supported by a faculty development grant from the China Institute.
The three were in China from June 8th to June 22nd 2012 and visited Shanghai Normal University (SHNU), Shanghai Sanda University (SSU), Wuhan University (WU), and Central China Normal University (CCNU). They met with officers from International Offices, vice presidents, deans, chairs, and faculty members from relevant departments from these universities. At each university, Dr. Rubin introduced academic programs of MCCAMC and participated in discussions about the possibility of future collaborative educational programs.
On the last day of the visit to CCNU, Dr. Rubin drafted and presented a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to a working meeting scheduled by the International Office of CCNU and participated in by four deans or representatives from CCNU and Wuhan University and all three CSUN delegation members. The MOU aimed to enhance mutual understanding and promote collaboration between CSUN and Chinese faculty and students. It was verbally approved and later developed as the formal agreement, signed on August 15, by CSUN President Dianne F. Harrison and Central China Normal University President Zongkai Yang, who led his delegation's visit to CSUN. In Spring 2013, both SSU in Shanghai and CCNU in Wuhan plan to send visiting scholars to CSUN's Art Department to study and hold further conversations about student and faculty exchange programs and collaborative research possibilities between universities.
While visiting these universities in Shanghai and Wuhan, the three CSUN members gave lectures to faculty and students regarding art education and journalism in the United States, focusing on CSUN's distinctive programs. They also met and enjoyed intellectual exchanges with faculty who are researching journalism and art education. The three also visited three elementary schools in Shanghai where they met with art teachers observed art classes. The CSUN visitors were extremely impressed by these schools' investments in art education.
The visit was a successful, productive, and memorable one and by all accounts, it should lead to many mutually beneficial programs and projects in the near future.
