TROY News Center

March 30, 2012

Confucius Institute at TROY opens classrooms in Montgomery, Birmingham

TROY -- The Confucius Institute at Troy University officially recognized partnerships with two Alabama schools on Friday that will further aid efforts to teach the Chinese language and culture.

During a ceremony in the new headquarters of the University’s Confucius Institute in Bibb Graves Hall on the Troy Campus, University officials announced the formation of Confucius Classrooms at the Highlands School in Birmingham and the Loveless Academic Magnet Program (LAMP) in Montgomery. Through the program, the schools will gain access to grant funding to enrich and improve their existing Mandarin Chinese programs.

The new Confucius Classrooms are the first such partnerships formed through TROY’s Confucius Institute and the first in the State of Alabama. There are more than 300 Confucius Classrooms worldwide as part of the global Confucius Institute network.

The Confucius Classroom extension program is designed to support Chinese language and cultural education in local communities. Partner institutions that sign on as Confucius Classrooms can apply for grants from the Confucius Institute’s headquarters in China to subsidize local educational programs.

“People in both China and the United States must understand each other because from understanding comes appreciation,” said Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., TROY Chancellor. “The best step toward developing that understanding is to teach the Chinese language to the children of this state and the earliest age possible. Our vision is to see the establishment of Confucius Classrooms in schools throughout Alabama. By working together, we can make that vision become reality.”

Kathryn Barr, head of the Highlands School which serves pre-school through eighth grade, said the school first began teaching Mandarin Chinese five years ago.

“We believe that students need to learn how to communicate with and learn about other cultures,” Barr said. “We are excited to be a Confucius Classroom and plan to use it well, spreading the word about the importance of learning the Chinese language and culture.”

Steven Frost, a teacher in the Confucius Classroom at LAMP, said he hoped that the program would serve as a model for Chinese language education.

“LAMP is very happy to accept the honor of hosting a Chinese Classroom,” Mr. Frost said. “The cooperation between the Confucius Institute at Troy University and LAMP provides the opportunity to reach out to some of Alabama’s best and brightest students and future leaders. I hope that this program will be seen as a model and that it serves to broaden awareness of the need for and importance of global education for the students of Alabama.”

Jun Yang, vice headmaster of Qinhuangdao New Century High School in the Hebei Province, stressed the importance of the mission of the Confucius Classroom program.

“To better understand a country, you must begin with its language,” Yang said. “These students who will benefit from these programs will go far beyond learning the Chinese language. They will emerge as ambassadors who, through their example and actions, will promote Sino-American communication and partnership.”

The ceremony concluded with students from the Highlands School performing two songs – one in English and one in Chinese.

Friday’s ceremony was a part of China-Alabama Week activities on the Troy Campus, which also included the dedication of the permanent offices of TROY’s Confucius Institute and the Alabama-China Education Symposium, which began Thursday and wrapped up on Friday afternoon.

March 29, 2012

U.S.-China trade important to both nations, official says in speech at Troy University

TROY—The Consul General of the Houston Chinese Consulate said that increased trade between her nation and the United States has become one of "the most important and most dynamic" economic relationships in the world.

The Consul General, Xu Erwen, visited Troy University this week for the first Alabama-China Education Symposium and the dedication of the new facilities housing the Confucius Institute at Troy University. She presented a lecture to students, faculty and the general public Thursday morning at the Trojan Center Theatre.

Xu pointed out 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the reopening of relations between the United States and China which she called a "win-win" situation for both nations. She also praised the State of Alabama for its willingness to trade with her nation and for its strong manufacturing base.

The Consul General said international education is helping to build a bridge between the two nations through educational and cultural exchanges, citing TROY's international program and the more than 350 students from China who study at Troy University,

"Troy University has been providing a friendly environment to the Confucius Institute, and helping the center to gradually become one the most important platforms for teaching Chinese language and China studies, and also a very important gateway to reach out to China and Chinese people," she said. "I am very pleased to witness the growth of this institute and send our congratulations to its achievement."

March 29, 2012

Troy University dedicates Confucius Institute

TROY – Thursday's dedication of the Confucius Institute at Troy University will help to bridge cultural gaps and create partnerships that will bring China and the State of Alabama closer together, according to University officials and visiting Chinese dignitaries.

The Confucius Institute at Troy University, the state's only such center for cultural, language and business exchange with China, was established at the University in 2007 and was the 23rd institute in the United States. Thursday's ceremonies formally dedicated the Institute's permanent offices in Bibb Graves Hall.

"This is a big day for Troy University, our partner institution Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology and for the State of Alabama," said Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., TROY Chancellor. "Through the partnerships that have been and will continued to be developed through the Confucius Institute, the people of Alabama will be well served."

The Institute is one facet of the University's commitment to preparing students to compete globally, Dr. Hawkins said.

"At Troy University, we have made a commitment to ensure that our students are prepared to live, think and act globally," he said. "The Confucius Institute at TROY will enable our students and the people of Alabama to become familiar with the Chinese language, history and culture and also will provide an economic development component that will help to create relationships. Those types of relationships are vitally important within the Asian culture."

Consul General Xu Erwen, whose consulate in Houston, Texas, represents China in 13 states, including Alabama, commended Troy University for the leadership it has shown through the development of the Institute.

"I want to express my deep appreciation to Troy University and to Chancellor Hawkins for the leadership they have provided in establishing this most impressive Confucius Institute," Xu said. "This Institute represents a great opportunity for cooperation between China and the United States. Troy University is an internationally minded university and today's dedication is an important step in creating a bridge between the Chinese and American people."

Prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Dr. Tommy Bice, State Superintendent of the Alabama Department of Education, and Shuliang Guo, Deputy Director of the Education Department of the Hebei Province, signed a memorandum of understanding that will clear the way for partnerships and cultural exchanges.

"This agreement will allow for cultural exchanges for our teachers and students," Dr. Bice said. "It provides a unique opportunity for Alabama and will allow our students to be exposed not only to the Chinese language but also to China's rich history and culture. This partnership will enable our students to become more globally aware."

Thursday's dedication was one of the highlights of Alabama-China Week on the Troy Campus. The Alabama-China Education Symposium kicked off following the dedication ceremony in the Confucius Institute and will continue on Friday.

Highlighting the symposium on Friday will be a performance by third-grade students from Birmingham's Highland School, a Confucius Classroom site, and presentations on Confucius Classrooms by Highland Principal Kathryn Barr, and Mr. Steven Frost, who teaches Mandarin Chinese at Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School in Montgomery. The symposium will also hear a presentation by Jun Yang, vice-principal of Qinhuangdao New Century High School in China. Friday's symposium will be presided over by Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Dr. Earl Ingram.

About the Confucius Institute at Troy University

The Confucius Institute at Troy University (CIT) is part of a global network of more than 204 Confucius Institutes in 50 countries, including 56 in the United States, developed by the Office of the Chinese Language Council International, which is headquartered in Beijing. The Confucius Institute at Troy University is dedicated to the promotion and development of Chinese language education, and cultural and business exchange with the People's Republic of China.

March 29, 2012

Author Bobbie Ann Mason presented Hall-Waters Prize by Troy University

TROY—Acclaimed author Bobbie Ann Mason was presented the Hall-Waters Prize today by Troy University in recognition of her significant contributions to Southern literature.

The University honored Mason during a luncheon at the Troy Campus. She called the award a great honor.

"I am deeply honored to receive this prize, and touched that it was established (by Wade Hall) in honor of his parents," Mason said. "I think honoring one's parents is the worthiest reason to establish an award."

The Hall-Waters Prize is endowed by TROY alumnus Dr. Wade Hall, an author, former member of the faculty at the University of Florida and professor emeritus of English at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. Dr. Hall, a native of Bullock County, endowed the prize as a memorial to his parents, Wade Hall Sr. and Sarah Elizabeth Waters Hall.

The award is presented regularly to individuals who have made significant contributions to Southern heritage and culture in history, literature or the arts. Past recipients include Shirley Ann Grau, Rick Bragg, Sena Jeter Naslund and U.S. Rep. John Lewis.

Dr. Steven Cooper, chair of the Department of English at the Troy Campus, praised Mason for her ability to "transform the everyday" in her writing.

"She writes about the New South, the South that we live in," Dr. Cooper said. "But she is also able to render the older South and really capture what it was like in the rural South of the early 1900s."

A native of Kentucky, Mason graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1962 and then moved to New York City. However, she would find inspiration for her writing in the lives of people in her home state.

"I had to leave Kentucky in order to find that the material for my fiction was right there in Kentucky," she said.

Mason is the author of five novels, five short-story collections, a memoir, and a biography of Elvis Presley for Penguin Publishing's popular "Lives" series. Her 1980 New Yorker debut, "Shiloh" remains one of the most anthologized short stories in contemporary American literature, and her 1985 novel, "In Country," dealing with the aftereffects of the Vietnam War, is considered a classic.

Both the novel "Feather Crowns" (1993) and the story collection "Zigzagging Down a Wild Trail" (2002) won the Southern Book Critics Circle Award. Her memoir/family history, "Clear Springs" (1999), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Mason is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Prize, and the Arts and Letters Award for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among other honors.

March 28, 2012

Local students present research at sociology conference

DOTHAN—A group of Troy University sociology students from the Dothan Campus recently presented their research to peers at the Alabama-Mississippi Sociological Association Conference.

The student who presented papers were:

• Debra Johnson, a junior from Ozark, who presented the paper "Considering Quality of Life Issues for the Elderly"
• Susan Blue, a senior from Dothan, who presented "Trouble at Home: Exploring Dimensions of Domestic Violence"
• Elizabeth Ali a junior from Dothan who presented "Big Mama Thornton: Crossing Race, Gender, and Class Boundaries in Alabama Blues Music"
• Sunny Brown, a senior from St. Louis, MO, who presented ""Examining Concerns Related to Intimate Partner Violence"
• Helen Creel-Lee, a senior, from Louisville, who presented "Institutional Racism: A Measure of Stratification"

The students were accompanied by Dr. Jeneve Brooks, associate professor of sociology. The conference was held Feb. 16-17 in Starkville, Miss.