Johns Hopkins' Paul H.
Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and
Nanjing University in Nanjing, China, are launching a new
master of arts in international studies, establishing the
first fully accredited joint degree of its kind between the
United States and the People's Republic of China.
The first class of master's students will be admitted
to the
Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies
for the fall 2006 semester. The center, established in
1986, has offered students a graduate certificate in
Chinese and American studies for 20 years. The new master's
degree will provide Chinese students with proficiency in
English, and American and other international students with
proficiency in Chinese, the opportunity to earn a single
graduate degree from two highly respected institutions.
Students will take 14 courses and write a thesis
during the two-year program. A minimum of 10 courses, plus
the thesis and an oral defense, must be conducted in the
student's target language. For Chinese students, the target
language is English; for American and other international
students, the target language is Mandarin Chinese.
"Target language research, discussion and writing
deepen students' understanding of the theoretical and
cultural assumptions of people in the area of study —
advantages that study in one's native language alone cannot
afford. English- and Chinese-speaking students will work
together in the same classrooms, a situation not found in
most other programs in China," said Kathryn Mohrman,
executive director of the center's Washington Office.
The degree program takes an interdisciplinary approach
to international studies, offering concentrations in
international politics, international economics, and
comparative and international law. Building upon the
success of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center's continuing
certificate program, the master's degree is designed to
prepare the future leaders of U.S.-China relations.
Robert Daly, the Nanjing-based American co-director of
the center, said, "There's a value in studying China in
Chinese, with the Chinese and as the Chinese study it.
There are few people in the United States skilled enough in
Chinese to use the language at a professional level in the
way that many Chinese are able to use English, and the new
master's program will give international students a huge
leg up in their language proficiency."
An additional feature of the program is a new academic
governance structure in which professors from SAIS and
Nanjing University have jointly established the
interdisciplinary master's curriculum and selected the
faculty who will teach it.
"As China seeks to internationalize its higher
education system," Mohrman said, "the master's degree
represents a new level of education cooperation that is
pathbreaking today, just as the creation of the center
enhanced Sino-American relations 20 years ago."
The expansion of the academic offerings will coincide
with the fall opening of a new building in Nanjing. The
center's programmatic and physical growth reflects the
increasing interest of international students in the study
of China and the Chinese language. The expansion will
double the facility's size and capacity, providing
additional library, classroom and housing space for
resident students, faculty, researchers and staff.
Established as one of the first joint ventures between
China and the United States, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center is
a collaborative project between Johns Hopkins and Nanjing
universities. It gives approximately 100 students from the
United States, China and other countries the opportunity to
live together and pursue graduate studies. SAIS administers
the center's activities on behalf of Johns Hopkins.
For more information about the new master's program
and application details, go to
www.nanjing.jhu.edu.
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