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Pfeiffer University is expanding its Chinese language and culture programs with the opening of the Carolinas' third Confucius Institute at its Park Road campus.
Pfeiffer is planning for-credit and not-for-credit Chinese education classes for students and professionals, as well as programs on Chinese culture.
Charlotte's need for the programs is urgent, said N.C. Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco, a Pfeiffer graduate and trustee since 1980.
Crisco visited China last month with Gov. Bev Perdue in hopes of building trade and economic development partnerships.
"The United States and China are mutually dependent in very significant ways," said Crisco, pointing to $1.9 billion in annual U.S. exports to China. "Any vehicle like the Confucius Institute which enables better understanding and better cooperation and makes our economic objectives easier to meet is a positive thing."
The Confucius Institute is a Beijing-based nonprofit education organization with more than 328 affiliates in 82 countries and regions, including more than 50 in the United States.
An institute opened at N.C. State University in 2007 and enrolled more than 300 people in 2009, according to Guanglin Dai, program manager. The University of South Carolina also has an institute.
Confucius Institutes are an outreach of the Chinese Language Council International, also known as Hanban. They establish Chinese classrooms in primary and secondary schools, provide continuing education classes and offer programs for Chinese and U.S. businesses interested in trade.
For language programs, institutes train Chinese language instructors and provide Chinese language teaching resources, including a Chinese language proficiency test.
Language courses in Charlotte will include basic, family and business Chinese language classes. Other planned courses are entering the Chinese market, understanding travel in China, understanding modern China and business Chinese. Martial arts classes and community programs also are planned.
The institute also will provide language programs for Smith Academy of International Languages and Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy, a charter school.
"It's a major investment for the Chinese government to create this type of exchange," said Pfeiffer University President Charles Ambrose. "It's a significant development not just for Pfeiffer but for the Charlotte region."
