Professor David Walker (front right) and Professor Andrew Walker (front left)
sign the new internships collaboration agreement at Peking University on Tuesday,
13 May 2014, with Peking University ASC interns and staff looking on.
New student internships to increase Australian studies and linkages in China.
Forget ‘East meets West’; in the Asian century the West is going to the East.
Now a new partnership between the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific and Peking University will see four Australian students travel to China each year as part of a cultural and education program.
In an agreement established Tuesday, the College will fund four annual student internships as part of the Foundation for Australian Studies in China (FASIC) program.
FASIC is an independent non-profit foundation in Australia established to support Australian studies centres located across China.
The internships will see two students from the College and two from across Australia complete three-month study programs at Peking University Australian Studies Centre (PKUASC).
The grants, worth A$1,500 each, will enable students to complete exchange, in-country language study, and collaborative research on the Australia-China relationship and involve in PKUASC activities at Peking University in Beijing.
Professor David Walker, BHP Billiton Chair of Australian Studies at ASC, welcomed the agreement.
“ANU has a long association with Asian Studies and, not least, the study of China," he said.
“The University was founded with the express intention of building Australia's knowledge of Asia, an objective supported by the first Vice-Chancellor, Professor Douglas Copland, who had strong personal and research interests in China.
“One of Copland's first appointments was the distinguished sinologist, Professor CP Fitzgerald. And Australia's first ambassador to the People's Republic of China was ANU graduate and staff member, Professor Stephen FitzGerald," he said.
Acting Dean of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Professor Andrew Walker signed the new collaboration agreement in Beijing with his namesake on Tuesday, saying it was an honour to collaborate with ASC.
“Peking University is recognised as China's leading university with a distinguished record of scholarship, learning and teaching,” he said.
"This is a great opportunity for Australian students to deepen their understanding of China. And, perhaps more important, their placement at the Australian Studies Centre will give them a strong insight into how Chinese students and academics perceive Australia.
“Internships like these are helping us to make the transition from learning about Asia to learning with and in Asia."
ASC PKU interns and staff at the Lin Huxuan College Building, Peking University
with Professor Andrew Walker and Professor Richard Rigby from the ANU College of Asia
and the Pacific – Tuesday, 13 May 2014.
ANU has a proud heritage in the study of China and is committed to continuing its tradition of scholarship of the East Asian nation.
"The ANU Centre for China in the World under the Directorship of Professor Geremie Barme continues this great tradition,” said Professor Andrew Walker.
“Today it provides a national centre of excellence for research, education and outreach in China studies in Australia as well as scholarly engagement with academic and policy communities in the People's Republic itself."
Students from the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific have the option to study in China as part of their degrees through a range of exchange, internship and Year in Asia programs.
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