The Modern Chinese Commerce and Culture Initiative is a cooperative effort among the E.J. Ourso College of Business, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the LSU Honors College to provide LSU students with working knowledge of the current Chinese business and cultural environment. With China emerging as the world’s second largest economy, the university considers preparing students for a U.S. - China marketplace an important initiative that will help to increase the quality of undergraduate students and programs, a key objective of LSU’s flagship agenda. Toward this effort, LSU has created eight new faculty positions between Arts & Sciences and Business that are now teaching courses such as Mandarin Chinese, Politics of China,and Chinese Marketing. In addition, the Honors College has added a program that takes first year students on a short visit to China to expose them to the Chinese environment. This program is designed to create a heightened awareness among the LSU student body of the importance of U.S. – China relations and encourage students to choose language and elective courses that have a focus on China. In the future, a Modern Chinese Commerce and Culture minor will be in place, as well as involvement from more senior colleges such as Agriculture, Engineering, and Mass Communication. |  |