A wise move: Alaska and Chinese universities create a culture of cooperation.

• Author: Bohi, Heidi
• Position: EDUCATION

During the opening ceremony for the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Confucius Institute, a new program that facilitates understanding and appreciating the Chinese culture, a commemorative plaque to be presented to UAA by its Chinese sister school Northeast Normal University (NENU) was covered with a white fabric drape to conceal the gift until the formal presentation. Moments before the symbolic event, a critical detail was brought to the attention of Alaska organizers by the visiting Chinese delegation: unlike the Western meanings of purity, holiness and cleanliness associated with white, in the Chinese culture, the color means death.

"They weren't horrified, but they were uneasy," says James Liszka, dean of UAA's College of Arts and Sciences and the faculty member spearheading the UAA half of the new partnership that is part of the school's ongoing efforts to internationalize the university. In short order, staff found a piece of red fabric, a positive color for the Chinese that signifies courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune and happiness. "There is a lot of protocol and etiquette you have to pay attention, and you can easily offend the Chinese if you don't know these things," Liszka says.

Ironically, it is through the Confucius Institute that Alaskans will have a resource for learning to better understand the Chinese culture and language so that misunderstandings like this can be avoided as the State works to further Alaska-China trade and develop business relationships with its Pacific Rim partner.

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Chinese delegates and UAA leaders attended the May signing ceremony, speaking on the importance of the new relationship and the potential contributions the program can make developing the Alaska-China relationship. The UAA-NENU partnership and the dialogue between Alaska and China has been in the planning stages for more than a year, and several Anchorage faculty members have visited China to work on the partnership agreement and to set up the Chinese Institute in Anchorage. There is also a formal agreement for research exchanges with Beijing Technical University, which has the largest seismic lab in China. NENU, located in Chungchun, China, specializes in teacher training, with an emphasis in mathematics, and representatives will visit UAA to establish an agreement to build on the efforts of the Confucius Institute.

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