China Full Immersion

This programme offers a unique opportunity to actually “live” China during the year and spend some 6 weeks in Hangzhou as a full-time student enrolled at Zhejiang University from September 26th to November 5th 2010. Specific dates will be defined soon.

The programme is open to a maximum of 15 students, who will attend 5 courses taught in English at the Xixi campus, plus a series of lectures coordinated by prof. Giuseppe Gabusi in Hangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. Lectures will be held by Chinese, Italian and American scholars.

Over the duration of the stay 4-5 courses are offered. In 2009 such courses included China-U.S. relations, Contemporary Chinese society, Traditional Chinese and Mandarin Chinese language. We expect the selection of courses for 2010 to cover social sciences and Chinese language again. Detailed information will be provided in the coming weeks.

Every day students are expected to attend one 3-hour language session in the morning and one 2-hour lecture/class session in the afternoon. A tai-chi and kung-fu trainer will help preserve a mens sana in corpore sano approach once a week.

All academic activities will officially constitute modules of a single comprehensive course titled “Political and Socio-Economic Dynamics of Contemporary China”. Upon attendance of the program and successful sitting of the final tests, participants will be awarded 12 CFU, counting as one “Esame a scelta” plus "extra activity" in their “Piano di studio”. Grades will be issued in the usual /30 format.

Scholarships are available for this programme. All 15 selected students will be provided with free accommodation and tuition. Participants will be required to pay only for other expenses, including flights (approx. 650€-750€ for a return flight from Italy), meals (very cheap), and field trips (between 600€ and 800€ in total). The programme includes 2-3 field trips in the local countryside, in Shanghai and in Beijing. Ad-hoc meetings with Chinese and Italian officials in Beijing and Shanghai will be organized to offer multiple perspectives on life in China and the role of the PRC in today’s world. Field trips are an integral, non-optional part of the programme.

This programme is available exclusively for current students and recent graduates from the Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Internazionali at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Torino.

Students are reminded that competition for securing a place can be very intense. Selectors will consider the following factors in making their decision: academic transcript, personal CV, proficiency in English, participation to activities organized within the Scienze Internazionali degree programme, previous knowledge of Chinese mandarin language (beneficial but not compulsory). Potentially successful candidates will be interviewed individually before a final decision is taken. Interviews will be conducted in English.

For further information on how to apply, please check this FAQ list.

Application deadline for the 2010 programme is July 9th.

CFI info updated 4th May 2010