University of Regina to open Confucius Institute

The University of Regina and the Hunan University in China will establish a Confucius Institute in Regina to promote Chinese language and culture.

This past year, the University of Regina and Hunan University in China put forward an application to co-establish a Confucius Institute in Regina. The joint proposal for a Confucius Institute was approved by Hanban, the Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing. The agreement was signed in China on March 7, 2011, by University of Regina President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Vianne Timmons and Director General and Chief Executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters, Dr. Xu Lin.

The co-establishment of a Confucius Institute will build on a long-term partnership between the two universities. The non-profit, public institution will promote Chinese language and culture, and provide instruction and support for academic interests in the areas of Chinese language, history, cultural diversity, artistic traditions and business practices. In particular, Hunan University will send two instructors to be based at the University of Regina, who will help implement a co-operatively designed teaching program and provide community-based language instruction and cultural training.

Confucius Institutes are non-profit institutions dedicated to promoting Chinese language and culture outside of China. They are named as such because Confucius is seen as a globally recognized representative of Chinese culture and education. The first Confucius Institute opened on November 21, 2004 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Today, there are approximately 300 Confucius Institutes in almost 100 countries worldwide. Confucius Institute Headquarters are located in Beijing, China under the Office of Chinese Language Council International. This office aims to establish 1,000 Confucius Institutes by 2020. To date, nine have been established in Canada. The University of Regina and Hunan University will co-establish Canada’s tenth Confucius Institute. The Institute's mandates at the University of Regina will be to promote Chinese language and culture, provide instruction and support for academic interests in the areas of Chinese language, history cultural diversity, artistic traditions, business practices, social and business environment in Saskatchewan.

The University of Regina has established many partnerships with Chinese government and post-secondary institutions over the past 30 years. The University of Regina is partnered with approximately 50 Chinese institutions. The University of Regina established academic and research collaborations with Hunan University in 1997. The Chinese Language Program at the University of Regina was established in 1988 and in 2002 it developed into a full degree program. The co-establishment of a Confucius Institute at the University of Regina will contribute to meeting the increasing demand for Chinese-language learning in Regina and Saskatchewan. The University of Regina is dedicated to facilitating international education and research initiatives involving Canadian and international students and scholars.

For more information, click here to read the news release.