China Institute
In Partnership with East China Normal University
Jointly designed by China Institute and East China Normal University in Shanghai, China, the Teacher Certificate in Understanding of Chinese Culture & Practice is an innovative certificate program for K-16 teachers of Chinese as a second language to expand and advance a systemic understanding of the foundations of Chinese culture, making connections of traditions and contemporary applications, and support participants with skillsets and resources to engage with a school community that embraces diversity and cultural responsiveness.
The online program consists of monthly seminars taught in Chinese or English by renowned scholars on carefully selected topics. Planned topics include Chinese mythology, philosophy, religion, music, poetry, calligraphy, fine art, tea & trade, and architecture. Through accompanying pedagogical workshops guided by master teaching experts, participants will be able to bridge content understanding and practical skillsets, as well as school activities, while gaining resources to bring Chinese culture to your school community and classrooms.
Target participants include K-16 in-service and pre-service teachers of Chinese as a second language in foreign language, dual or immersion programs, as well as teachers of other subjects who are interested in selected topics. According to the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, all language teaching must include 5 Cs (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons and Communities). For more specific goal areas and standards, please visit World-ReadinessStandardsforLearningLanguages.pdf.
This seminar series will provide participants with subject matter content that meets the “Cultures” goal area of the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. The goal is to bring to world language learners a global competence for their future careers and experiences.
Participants can choose sessions to enroll in monthly.
For questions, please contact Yongqiang Lin at ylin@chinainstitute.org
A great starting point to understand a culture is through mythology, as it presents rich and colorful stories, providing keys to unlock the spirit, beliefs, values, traditions, and customs formed in a culture. Often involving characters including supernatural beings, heroes, gods and goddesses, they are fun to learn as well!
Through mythological stories for various age groups, Prof. Qinjian Chen will guide the participants to build a foundational and deeper understanding of Chinese mythology which leads to explore the very origin of the Chinese culture: Are Chinese descendants of the dragon?
This two-hour online seminar will be in Chinese.
该讲座为中文。
Around 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, humans already painted images of animals as well as abstract symbols in caves using natural pigments, showing remarkable sophistication as early as the Paleolithic time. Painting is arguably one of the earliest artistic representations of cultures created by humans around the world.
Chinese painting presents one of the finest and most nuanced art forms created in human history. What constitutes the core of Chinese painting that sustains its continuity for over 1,800 years? What are some of the characteristics that set Chinese painting apart from the western tradition? How to understand the pursuit of “truth in spirit” (图真) and “poetic nature” (诗性) in the case of Chinese painting?
Guided by above questions, this seminar will examine some of the most acclaimed masterpieces including Night Revels of Han Xizai (《韩熙载夜宴图》) by Gu Hongzhong (顾闳中) and Early Spring (《早春图》) by Guo Xi (郭熙), and help participants to build a general understanding of the unique observing methods, modes of thinking and aesthetic tastes of Chinese painting.
This two-hour online seminar will be in Chinese.
该讲座为中文。
One of the oldest art forms, music is part of human history and plays important cultural roles for communication, aesthetic and emotional expression, as well as entertainment. For the Chinese since ancient time, music serves the rituals showing respect to the ancestors and communicating with the heaven. Music touches the soul and cultivates one’s virtue. Music also serves as the record of the variety of Chinese people who create, perform and write about it.
Starting from High Mountain and Flowing Water (高山流水), Ambush from All Sides (十面埋伏), and Spring Blossoms On The Moonlit River (春江花月夜), this seminar connects familiar stories to a general framework for understanding the unique features of Chinese music, including pentatonic scales, instruments, strong association with literature and visual art, as well as its fascinating connection with the world music.
This two-hour online seminar will be in Chinese.
该讲座为中文。
How can Chinese language teachers bring a deeper understanding of Chinese cultural content to their classrooms? This participant-centered workshop is designed to help teachers develop activities integrating language and culture based on the content learning through previous seminars on Chinese mythology, painting and music. Led by master teacher trainer Dr. Wei-ling Wu, workshop participants will select one cultural topic to focus on and design a sample activity plan integrating the cultural content into their classroom teaching targeting their own students.
This workshop is limited to 25 participants.
Applicants must meet the following requirements for consideration:
- Passionate about teaching Chinese culture in their classrooms
- Committed to actively participating in workshop discussions
- Submit a proposal by Friday 5:00 PM, June 2, using the provided Proposal Form
- Complete the post workshop survey
Please submit the completed proposal to Yongqiang Lin, ECNU Guest Faculty and Program Coordinator, China Institute, at ylin@chinainstitute.org
A great starting point to understand a culture is through mythology, as it presents rich and colorful stories, providing keys to unlock the spirit, beliefs, values, traditions, and customs formed in a culture. Often involving characters including supernatural beings, heroes, gods and goddesses, they are fun to learn as well!
Through mythological stories for various age groups, Prof. Qinjian Chen will guide the participants to build a foundational and deeper understanding of Chinese mythology which leads to explore the very origin of the Chinese culture: Are Chinese descendants of the dragon?
This two-hour online seminar will be in Chinese.
该讲座为中文。
Around 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, humans already painted images of animals as well as abstract symbols in caves using natural pigments, showing remarkable sophistication as early as the Paleolithic time. Painting is arguably one of the earliest artistic representations of cultures created by humans around the world.
Chinese painting presents one of the finest and most nuanced art forms created in human history. What constitutes the core of Chinese painting that sustains its continuity for over 1,800 years? What are some of the characteristics that set Chinese painting apart from the western tradition? How to understand the pursuit of “truth in spirit” (图真) and “poetic nature” (诗性) in the case of Chinese painting?
Guided by above questions, this seminar will examine some of the most acclaimed masterpieces including Night Revels of Han Xizai (《韩熙载夜宴图》) by Gu Hongzhong (顾闳中) and Early Spring (《早春图》) by Guo Xi (郭熙), and help participants to build a general understanding of the unique observing methods, modes of thinking and aesthetic tastes of Chinese painting.
This two-hour online seminar will be in Chinese.
该讲座为中文。
One of the oldest art forms, music is part of human history and plays important cultural roles for communication, aesthetic and emotional expression, as well as entertainment. For the Chinese since ancient time, music serves the rituals showing respect to the ancestors and communicating with the heaven. Music touches the soul and cultivates one’s virtue. Music also serves as the record of the variety of Chinese people who create, perform and write about it.
Starting from High Mountain and Flowing Water (高山流水), Ambush from All Sides (十面埋伏), and Spring Blossoms On The Moonlit River (春江花月夜), this seminar connects familiar stories to a general framework for understanding the unique features of Chinese music, including pentatonic scales, instruments, strong association with literature and visual art, as well as its fascinating connection with the world music.
This two-hour online seminar will be in Chinese.
该讲座为中文。
How can Chinese language teachers bring a deeper understanding of Chinese cultural content to their classrooms? This participant-centered workshop is designed to help teachers develop activities integrating language and culture based on the content learning through previous seminars on Chinese mythology, painting and music. Led by master teacher trainer Dr. Wei-ling Wu, workshop participants will select one cultural topic to focus on and design a sample activity plan integrating the cultural content into their classroom teaching targeting their own students.
This workshop is limited to 25 participants.
Applicants must meet the following requirements for consideration:
- Passionate about teaching Chinese culture in their classrooms
- Committed to actively participating in workshop discussions
- Submit a proposal by Friday 5:00 PM, June 2, using the provided Proposal Form
- Complete the post workshop survey
Please submit the completed proposal to Yongqiang Lin, ECNU Guest Faculty and Program Coordinator, China Institute, at ylin@chinainstitute.org
Download the Proposal FormSpeaker Bio
Qinjian Chen 陈勤建
Tenure professor at East China Normal University and doctoral supervisor of literature, art and folklore; National Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Expert; Deputy Director of Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Expert Committee.
Prof. Chen’s research fields include folklore, literary folklore, intangible cultural heritage, etc. Representative works include “Chinese Folklore”, “Chinese Bird Culture”, “Chinese Bird Belief”, etc. A frequent speaker at international academic conferences, Prof. Chen has presided over more than ten scientific research projects in China and internationally, published 16 monographs, edited 14 books, and more than 180 papers and articles, including “Introduction to Literary Folklore”, which won The second prize (monograph) (ranked first) in Chinese Literature for the second National Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award by the Ministry of Education, and 7 provincial and ministerial social science awards. Prof. Chen also won the title of excellent course in the city of Shanghai.
Wen Zheng 郑文
Professor and Vice Dean of the Academy of Fine Arts, East China Normal University. Member of Shanghai Artists Association, Research Fellow of Shanghai Dongyuan Jinshi Painting and Calligraphy Academy (上海东元金石书画院). Prof. Zheng’s research topics include Chinese painting theory, Chinese painting creation and Chinese painting. Prof. Zheng has held solo educational exhibitions including “Picture and Culture: Zheng Wen’s Landscape Painting Education Exhibition“, “Silent Mountains and Stretched Days: Zheng Wen’s Landscape Painting Exhibition“, Qianhe Art Space. Prof. Zheng is the author of various books, including “Chinese Painting Teaching Research“, “Silent Mountains and Stretched Days— Zheng Wen’s Landscape Painting Collection“, “The Basics of Freehand Brushwork in Chinese Painting – A Series of Textbooks of the Basics for Art Colleges“, “The Transformation of Jiangnan Society and the Rise of Wumen School of Painting“. Prof. Zheng presides over and undertakes a number of projects of the National Social Science Fund and key projects of the Ministry of Education in China.
Wei–ling Wu 吴威玲
Dr. Wei–ling Wu (Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania), teacher of Chinese, consultant, and trainer of Chinese language teachers.
A master Chinese teacher, Dr. Wu taught in K–12 schools in the United States for twenty-five years. Over her long career as a teacher trainer, Dr. Wu has taught courses for teachers of Chinese at New York University, East China Normal University in Shanghai, and other colleges as an adjunct instructor. She has trained hundreds of Chinese language teachers through the Asia Society and the China Institute in the past decade. Dr. Wu has also served on various projects for Chinese language instruction and curriculum development, including those conducted by STARTALK and Chinese Language Schools.
Dr. Wu is the designer, coach, and script writer of the Asia Society’s TEQ video lesson series for teaching Chinese, which is accessible across the country and around the world.
Her endeavor as chief author since 1994 has resulted in a range of Chinese textbooks for K–12 students.
Zhou Yi 周懿
Praised for her “breathtaking” meticulous technique and expressiveness by the Washington Post, pipa/qin soloist and educator, Zhou Yi graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China. She is the artistic director of the Ba Ban Chinese Music Society of NY.
Zhou Yi’s select performances include: Tan Dunʼs Concerto for Pipa and String Orchestra at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig Germany; Young Peopleʼs Concert with the New York Philharmonic; Bun-Ching Lamʼs Song of the Pipa and Sudden Thunder with the Sinfonieorchester Münster; Zuqiang Wuʼs Sisters of the Grassland with the Ohio Youngstown Symphony Orchestra; guest qin artist with the San Francisco Opera in Bright Shengʼs Dream of the Red Chamber; guest pipa and qin artist with the Santa Fe Opera in Huang Ruoʼs Dr. Sun Yatsen.
Zhou Yi’s teaching credits include: Joined Carnegie Hallʼs Music Explorer educational program; a teaching artist with Flushing Council on Culture & Arts in 2019; conducted music workshops in public schools for the China National Traditional Orchestraʼs U.S. tour in 2015; gave lectures at Queens and Brooklyn public libraries; performed musical demonstration for students in grades 1-5 with the Global Language Project; a guest Chinese music instructor in NYU’s East Asian Studies in 1998. Ms. Zhou’s students gained the top scores in a number of musical arts programs and have been awarded in televised talent shows.
What You Will Get
Upon completing each seminar or workshop, participants will get CTLE (Continuing Teaching and Leadership Education) hours approved by the New York State Education Department.
In partnership with New England Chinese Language Teachers Association (NECLTA) and the Chinese Program at Tufts University, the PDP certificate is available for NECLTA members.
Upon completing required participation of seminars and workshops, participants will receive a “Certificate in Understanding of Chinese Culture”, jointly issued by China Institute and East China Normal University.
How to Join
All seminars and workshops are free of charge for in-service and pre-service teachers. Please register each session separately.Program Team
Anqi Ding, Vice President of School of International Chinese Studies, Deputy Director of the Institute of Global Chinese Language Teacher Education, East China Normal UniversityShenzhan Liao, SVP, Education, China Institute
Yongqiang Lin, ECNU Guest Faculty and Program Coordinator, China Institute
Suosi He, Assistant to Director, International Cooperation & Exchange Division, East China Normal University (ECNU)
Ruoyi Pu, Program Coordinator, Institute of Global Chinese Language Teacher Education, ECNU
Wei Zhang, Director of Teacher Education Center, Institute of Global Chinese Language Teacher Education, ECNU
Yong Zhou, Deputy Director, International Cooperation & Exchange Division, East China Normal University (ECNU)
Advisory Committee
Yong Ho, PhD, Executive Director of the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Greater New YorkFrank Lixing Tang, PhD, Research Professor & Co-Director, Project for Developing Chinese Language Teachers (DCLT), The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, & Human Development, New York University
Mingquan Wang, PhD, Language Coordinator, Chinese Program, Tufts University; Executive Director, New England Chinese Language Teachers Association
Yang Wang, Chinese Language Program Coordinator, Brown University; President, New England Chinese Language Teachers Association
Ron Woo, Executive Director, NYS Statewide Language RBERN; Metropolitan Center at New York University
Xuejun (Jim) Yu, PhD, Chairperson, World Languages Department, Miami Dade College – Wolfson Campus
Partner Organizations
Institute of Global Chinese Language Teacher Education, East China Normal UniversityNew England Chinese Language Teachers Association (NECLTA)
Chinese Program at Tufts University
This series is made possible through the support of the Center for Language Education, the ECNU Center, and generous supporters of China Institute.
