Dear Partners and Friends,
What a year 2020 has been for personal growth, overcoming obstacles, professional expansion, and timely transformation. This year has certainly put our mental health at the forefront. Still, it has also served as a catalyst for innovation and change, sending us to the drawing board, demanding that we take a closer look and reevaluate the professional and personal decisions we have been making to advance The Beijing Center (TBC) as a portal between China and the world. Furthermore, 2020 has prompted institutions into uncharted territory, TBC included.
In a real sense, many of the challenges we faced this year were disheartening. Yet many of them were also our greatest assets and sources of inspiration. We took the current situation at hand and we worked continuously to bring ourselves to the next level, by recognizing each challenge’s transitory nature. What has resulted at TBC are newly developing programs that have paved the way for a humble transition into increased digital content, expanded study abroad and internship programs, and informative cultural events.
While recognizing the challenging time, we are moving with the times through a unifying Jesuit spirit. As the pandemic progressed, we saw continued support from our partners and extended community of alumni, business professionals, and affiliates. This has not only strengthened our community but has also made us internally stronger as a team.
We would like to extend an overwhelming grateful thank you to our staff, board of directors, partners, and supporters for their patience and dedicated efforts. As the world continues to face a growing number of challenges, we at TBC continue to do our part by nurturing our students and promoting cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world.
Sincerely,
Simon Koo, PhD
Executive Director of The Beijing Center
When Matteo Ricci came to China in 1610, he created a lasting connection between East and West, dispersing a Jesuit spirit in the process. We at The Beijing Center have been extracting inspiration and influence from Ricci’s legacy to engage and educate the world about China and its diverse cultures – highlighting the significance of culture.
This past year, we had to look deep inward and exert our Jesuit spirit and values to pave the way for the next phase as an international education institution. This has meant implementing progressive approaches and developing new strategies to realize our new goals and expand our currently running programs, with something new along the way.
Established in 1998 by Fr. Ron Anton, SJ, The Beijing Center (TBC) is the only Jesuit institution of higher education and research in mainland China. The Beijing Center provides a unique environment for students and scholars from all over the world to begin their engagement with China.
Our mission is to promote mutual understanding between China the world through cultural exchange, education, and research. What makes us unique is our placement in a long and storied tradition of Jesuit education, one that teaches us that true cultural engagement starts first with friendship.
We achieve our mission by offering an outstanding immersive semester abroad program, short-term programs tailored for your group’s best initial engagement with China, and a research library with over 27,000 volumes in English used by scholars not only in China, but from around the world. We achieve our mission with TBC’s professional and dedicated staff.
An unlikely period of time for improvement, in many ways, 2020 became a host for The Beijing Center’s evolving image and diversified programs. We started off the year faced with a lot of uncertainty and a new life void of certain liberties and services. But, as it quickly became apparent that COVID-19 was here to stay, TBC took the cautionary measures, and we sent our study abroad students and ChinaContact groups back to their home countries with their safety in mind.
As we dealt with the pandemic’s repercussions, we kept our Jesuit values and organizational goals in mind. We recognized the need to adapt to our environment and re-establish our center as a leading facilitator of cross-cultural engagement, and we continued forward with a fresh and conscious mindset. With a changing business and education environment came a change in our internal structure and better allocation of our resources. These changes allowed us to outgrow the old and move in with the necessary new – with our values at the forefront.
Following the outbreak in China, we got involved in our local communities and offered our aid by delivering surgical masks and protective medical suits for medical professionals at local hospitals, thanks to the generous donations from our Jesuit partners.
In response to the changing global education environment, we began working on virtual learning programs to meet the needs of our students and offer more options for those interested in studying at TBC. Our Virtual Internship Program allowed international students to participate in an online internship for a Beijing-based company; meanwhile, our American Pathway Program hosts Chinese students working towards obtaining their bachelor’s degree at a US partner university. As everyone gathered online to work and learn, we began offering additional engagement with our ChinaChat online Mandarin classes. Rather than ignoring the digital domination, we welcomed it as a guide to new and improved programs and cultural engagement.
As we progressed with new ideas and programs, we took a moment to reflect on our community and the abundance we have cultivated – and the TBC Alumni Book was born. The Alumni Book is our way to give back to our community, and specifically our alumni, by compiling an idyllic photographic recollection of TBC experiences since 1998.
We ended this year on a hopeful note with a persisting attitude to promote the value of lifelong learning.
The Beijing Center has hosted students and scholars since 1998, providing immersion into Chinese culture and acting as a hub for dialogue and cross-cultural exchange. However, 2020 brought face-to-face interactions to a halt when the COVID-19 pandemic sent everyone home, froze travel, and closed borders. Many Chinese students had decided to return to their family homes, which meant putting their international studies on hold and delaying their academic plans or taking online courses at incredibly inconvenient hours due to extensive time zone differences.
While the pandemic had altered the education environment, TBC worked towards developing academic opportunities that adapted to the necessary health regulations while meeting the academic needs of students. We worked closely with local agencies and our partner institutions to create a new program that would help Chinese students who were unable or unwilling to return to their universities abroad and help students wishing to obtain a degree abroad. Thus, The Beijing Center’s Pathway Program was created.
TBC welcomed its first Pathway Program cohort in Fall 2020, comprised of students from all around China, including students from our partners the College of the Holy Cross, Saint Joseph’s University, University of Notre Dame, and University of the South. Pathway students earn undergraduate credit while taking part in seminars, service-learning, and activities at The Beijing Center, aimed at helping to prepare them for their future semesters living and studying abroad.
“Serving as a gateway into Jesuit higher education, the American Pathway Program at TBC is a great opportunity for Chinese students to begin their university studies while preparing them for life abroad at US universities, and simultaneously initiating their careers as newly shaped global citizens.” –Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, SJ
STUDENT HIGHLIGHT: JOYCE FU, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
Each year, The Beijing Center brings in students from North America, Asia, Europe, and South America. This year was no exception as we hosted a new Chinese student cohort with diverse backgrounds and unique stories to share. One of our students part of the American Pathway Program, Joyce Fu, shared with us fresh cultural perspectives as influenced by her lifestyle and her experience as an ethnic Chinese raised in Singapore.
Most of our students come to China to immerse themselves in a new culture and experience the unfamiliar. Still, sometimes, a student comes to China to better understand their own cultural identity. Joyce Fu was one of those students who found The Beijing Center experience in China an opportunity for personal and academic growth.
Growing up in the expatriate community in Singapore put Joyce’s multicultural identity into perspective. Her interest in social realities not only facilitated her area of study – sociology – but it also shaped her vision of her place in an ex-colonial society, and the perception people had of her and her friends of differing races.
Joyce’s decision to study in China has further heightened her perspective of her country of origin, recognizing that her perspective of China and the China that she faces internally differ in some ways. This cultural confrontation has ignited her genuine care for China’s betterment and herself as a Chinese cultural representative.
During her time at The Beijing Center, Joyce found significant meaning in the Chinese culture classes, which piqued her interest in Chinese cultural aspects and guided her in learning more about her heritage and identity. With the central recognition that real value lies in building cultural confidence by knowing your own culture, Joyce acknowledged that her time spent with us in China was time well spent. More about Joyce can be read here.
With the rise of COVID-19, came the unavoidable transition to online work and study, and we responded accordingly. A very big part of the student experience is internships, and much like the prolonged virtual classroom experience for students globally, interning in a traditional manner was not possible. So, as we all stepped away from classrooms and offices and made friends with our screens, the Virtual Internship Program was born.
The Virtual Internship Program was designed for international students looking for a Beijing-based internship and a Chinese cultural experience. This way, students intern for a local or international company virtually while participating in The Beijing Center’s cultural, business, and language classes. This past year we hosted student interns from Latin America, the US, and Asia-Pacific. Learn more about the student-interns’ experiences from their program virtual showcases: Summer 2020, Fall 2020.
As an educational institution promoting cultural exchange and dialogue between people, providing our community Mandarin language courses is a central part of The Beijing Center experience. When the pandemic hit and in-person programs were put on hold, lingual learning and exchange was challenged. Rather than dismissing another pandemic-induced obstacle, we turned our program components into moving pieces, making ChinaChat an online language resource for our community.
As an interactive beginner-level language program, ChinaChat was created to offer live online classes and supplementary pre-recorded videos to prompt a basic understanding of Mandarin for enthusiastic language learners. After completing our scenario-based online classes, students are equipped to encounter common daily situations, giving them just enough screen time before post-covid in-person interactions resume – in Mandarin, of course.
Although a virtual professional and academic experience can’t replace first-hand in-person learning, Alex Aceytuno found significant meaning from his virtual internship experience, giving him an inside look into US-China relations. As a political science major at Loyola Marymount University, Alex interned at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s China office, the first international conservation organization invited to work in mainland China. He collaborated with Chinese and Western researchers to write human-wildlife conflict management policies and reports. Alongside his China-based virtual internship, Alex decided to intern through The Beijing Center, which has facilitated Chinese-Western relations for years. In doing so, he gained more knowledge about Chinese culture and international relations through our classes as part of this program.
In a digital age, Alex found his virtual internship an invaluable experience that helped him develop his online communication skills, which have become essential as a professional in the 21st century. Having previous in-person internship experience, he could attest to the clear skills and advantages he gained through the virtual experience that he could not have otherwise acquired in a traditional internship setting. By facing certain challenges such as time differences and technological constraints, Alex recognized that his virtual internship experience made him more well-rounded because it allowed for professional development in a new setting. With both in-person and virtual professional experience, Alex hopes to return to China to pursue a career as a diplomat in a government or NGO capacity.
Rooted in Ignatian spirituality and a core value of The Beijing Center is “magis,” which is the Latin word for “more.” This year in particular, the call to do more for others had never been more imperative. TBC, together with our Jesuit partners, stepped up to assist health care workers on the front lines.
In February, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China mobilized the whole country’s resources to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Cities were locked down, experts and supplies sent to the epicenter, and hundreds of millions of people across the country stayed at home for weeks to enforce social distancing.
With thousands of people infected with the coronavirus, hospitals were overwhelmed and health care workers were faced with certain medical supplies shortages. The immediate need for protective gear for hospital staff and health care workers was paramount. With generous support and donations, The Beijing Center was able to provide 1,800 surgical N95 masks and 150 medical protective suits to hospitals in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thanks to the generous donation from The Society of Jesus, 1,800 N95 surgical masks were delivered to the Jingzhou No 1 People’s Hospital. Shortly after, The Jesuits of Canada and the United States provided a match donation which enabled us to send 150 medical protective suits to Jingzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
“The Society of Jesus is a Society of solidarity. This small gesture is a symbol of that wide and deep solidarity,” said Father José Magadia SJ, general counsellor and regional assistant for Asia Pacific.
TBC is honored to be the facilitator and platform connecting the Jesuits to mainland China and is proud to have been able to realize these donations of medical supplies. Those responsible for the charitable operation included Fr. Arturo Sosa SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Fr. José Magadia SJ, General Counsellor and Regional Assistant, Asia Pacific, Fr. Stephen Chow SJ, Provincial of the Chinese Province, Fr. Timothy P. Kesicki SJ, President of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, Fr. Sean Michaelson SJ, Executive Secretary and Treasurer of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, and Dr. Simon Koo, Executive Director of The Beijing Center.
“We are all part of one human family, no matter where we’re from… [We are] honored to stand in solidarity with the people of China at this challenging time. Our prayers and hopes are with you.” –Fr. Timothy P. Kesicki, SJ, President of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States
The start of every semester at TBC begins with the eagerness of new experiences, shared cultural immersion, and the opportunity to see each cohort of students grow and learn. This Spring 2020 semester was no exception in the way it began, despite being cut short by COVID-19.
Just a few weeks after Spring 2020 students arrived, the coronavirus outbreak prompted their premature departure back home. In order to ensure the students’ safety and mitigate the outcomes of the outbreak, TBC coordinated the students’ immediate return back home in a timely manner. In the process, it was our intention to make sure that the unexpected return didn’t negatively impact the students’ academic schedule that semester.
With the support and cooperation of our staff and partners, the students were able to arrive home safely. Throughout the process, TBC maintained contact with the students and universities, and received the students’ feedback on the situation. A student from John Carroll University, Celia Manders, described the situation as “very well handled, we were very informed about what was happening and were able to safely get back to Beijing [from the Yunnan Excursion] and safely evacuated to our home countries.” More about the Spring 2020 semester can be read here.
With the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China, all of us in Beijing felt the impact earlier before it caught up to the rest of the world. In response, we received an overwhelming amount of support from our partners and community of alumni. Video “Jiayou” (you can do it) messages were sent to us, which we compiled and shared with our communities in China and abroad.
Every day, The Beijing Center works to turn our vision into a reality – of being an internationally recognized portal between China and the world – offering a distinctive academic platform for outstanding scholars interested in building bridges and promoting dialogue between China and other cultures. However, our work would not be possible without the generous support of our partner institutions and supporters. We would therefore like to extend our heartfelt thanks to you!
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