Founded in 1998, The Beijing Center (TBC) is the Jesuit center of higher education in Mainland China continuing the tradition of Jesuits such as Matteo Ricci in fostering mutual understanding between China and other cultures through cultural exchange, education and research. Starting as a collaborative program amongst 26 AJCU schools, TBC offers semester, year-long and summer education abroad programs, provides comprehensive support for customized short-term programming, and houses a renowned research library with over 25 thousand volumes.
- 20 years in China
- 25,000 volume research library
- 130 students per year
- 20+ Professors/Researchers
- 1,500+ Alumni
- Staff: 14, 2 Jesuits
- Semester & summer study/intern abroad programs
- English-taught courses, accreditation through Loyola University Chicago
- Financial aid transfer agreements with many universities and scholarships
- Located at the University of International Business & Economics (UIBE)
- UIBE is AACSB accredited
- Top 100 university in China
- Over 3,000 foreign students
Study Abroad in China for a Semester, Year or Summer
Matteo Ricci, S.J. (利玛窦) came to Beijing in 1601. Like TBC students today, he and his companions studied the Chinese language and culture and used that knowledge to engage in the academic life of the day. Ricci found a particularly close friendship with Xu Guangqi (徐光启), a Chinese scholar-bureaucrat, who taught him the Chinese way of life. In turn, Ricci shared his knowledge of the West.
We seek to follow in these footsteps as we provide students with the supportive environment to start their own adventures in China. With dedicated classrooms capable of teaching nearly 130 students, our classes are taught in English by leading scholars and practitioners that expose students to both Chinese and Western styles of teaching and perspectives. Our curricula are designed to educate students about where China has been, where it is now, and most importantly – where China is heading. While all “humanistic” courses are taught in English, every study abroad student, no matter whether beginner or fluent, undertakes a study of Mandarin Chinese, taught by native speakers. In addition to language classes, TBC pairs students with a Chinese university student for language tutoring each week to help foster strides towards learning the language and culture.
Beijing Internships
TBC gives students a unique opportunity to do an internship in Beijing to develop professionally by working alongside both Chinese and international colleagues, within the Chinese context. Our internship placements span across many sectors:
- Multinational corporations and media companies
- Start-up and tech companies
- Not-for-profit organizations, research institutes, embassies and chambers of commerce
- Healthcare-related organizations and hospitals
- Museums, art galleries, and cultural institutions
- TBC’s internship program encourages students to think about China in a deeper way both in and outside of the classroom. Students learn cultural humility, while also building intercultural and professional competencies.
In addition to semester internships, students can also choose to do a 9-week summer internship through the Global Leaders Summer Internship Program.
Experiential and Service Learning
Living the Culture
While academics and research are an essential element to understanding China, textbooks and lectures can only tell part of the story. TBC believes that in order to understand China, you must also experience China. One of the hallmarks of our programs is the opportunity for daily exchange with Chinese people. For our semester-long students, TBC pairs each student not only with a local Chinese student tutor, but also provides the option of living with a Chinese roommate. Our Chinese roommate program was one of the first of its kind in China, and popular amount our pupils with more than 50% of students requesting a Chinese roommate. Watch Fall 2017 students give appreciation to their Chinese roommates here: https://vimeo.com/243050542
Bringing Knowledge to Life
TBC provides educational trips to major cultural and historical sites of interest in and around Beijing – from the emperor’s Forbidden City to the legendary Great Wall of China to the hutong alleyways dating back to the Yuan Dynasty. Furthermore, TBC provides engaging excursions across China each semester term. In the fall term, students trace 2,050 miles along the Silk Road, familiarizing themselves with the geography and history of the Qin through Qing Dynasties of China on this ancient international trade route. In the spring term, students experience Yunnan province in Southwest China, where they live, learn, and share in the rich and diverse cultures of China’s ethnic minorities. Both excursion including rare opportunities to participate in homestays in various villages – not only seeing the country, but experiencing the culture. During these 2-week trips, students research a relevant topic of interest to them, and present their discoveries to the group.
Service Learning
As a way of cultivating global citizens and living out TBC’s Jesuit identity, we provide service-learning opportunities for semester students to get hands-on experience with dedicating time and energy to supporting and serving their new community in Beijing. TBC provides different placement options for volunteering, including nearby schools, hospitals and non-profits. Our volunteers meet together once a week to reflect, process, and making meaning out of their service experiences.
Research center and library
Research Center
While studying abroad is one of The Beijing Center’s flagship programs, TBC is also a research center that welcomes international and Chinese scholars to research at The Beijing Center. Our Research Center promotes exploration on cultural exchanges between China and the West. Our main activities included:
- Advising and supporting research by scholars and Chinese graduate students
- Sponsors Matteo Ricci Faculty Fellowship for non-tenured faculty on tenured track
- Hosting, supporting, and taking part in conferences
- Providing lectures and holding seminars for Chinese students
- Digitalizing historical documents and records
- Publishing source documents
- Serving as liaison between Western academic institutions and Chinese universities
The Anton Library
Starting in 1998 with only 200 books, The Anton Library at TBC now houses a collection of nearly 25,000 volumes in open stacks, including a display room for rare books and maps. The main collection of books about China written in English is the largest private such collection in Beijing and one of the largest in China.
Nearly 1,000 volumes are added annually, selected among books published in North America, Europe and China. The main subject headings are Art & Architecture, Biographies, Business & Economics, Culture & Society, Ethnology, Film & Theater, History, Language, Literature, Media & Journalism, Philosophy & Religion, Photography, Political sciences, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Travel, Women’s Studies, and Martial Arts.
The library also hosts a special history collection open to scholars on the history of Christianity in China in the late Ming and Qing dynasties. This collection concentrates on primary sources and includes books in Chinese, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin, and other European languages.
Tailored Short-term Programs
The ChinaContact division of TBC was created in 2002 in order to facilitate short-term, credit or non-credit, tailor-made Chinese study programs for a wide audience, fulfilling a variety of academic and professional needs. Each trip is customized by our experienced guides to follow the theme relevant to any curriculum or concentration, assisting with logistics, lectures and relevant site visits around China. ChinaContact serves TBC partners through transparent cost structure, attentive program assistance and unmatched academic excellence.
In 2017, ChinaContact brought 15 different programs with nearly 250 students and faculty to China.
January 2018 ChinaContact hosted 9 students for a J-Term Business Finance Course, Modern Security Analysis, in partnership and accredited by Le Moyne College.
In 2018, we forecast 20 programs with 300 students and faculty coming to China.
Fr. Jim Caime, S.J., is the Executive Director of The Beijing Center. Jim began his work at TBC in August 2010 and became the Executive Director in July 2014. Jim has worked in U.S. higher education for nearly twenty years and worked at Loyola University New Orleans from 2002 – 2010 prior to joining the TBC staff. He holds multiple Masters degrees, including an MBA from Georgetown University. Jim himself was an exchange student in high school and studied abroad during his undergraduate years. Jim entered the Society of Jesus for the New Orleans Province in August, 1993 and was ordained a priest in 2002. He is currently a member of the UCS province.
To find out more about how The Beijing Center can help you and your students discover, engage and dialogue with China visit thebeijingcenter.org.
“The Beijing Center is the only place in China that meets our Jesuit-educated students’ expectations of rigorous academics and world-affirming experiences. I have witnessed the transformational impact on our students as they prepare to engage the 21st century. It is no surprise that The Beijing Center is consistently voted the #1 study abroad program in the world,” Jim Joseph, Dean of Madden School of Business at Le Moyne College.
Videos:
China / Why China?
- 5,000 years of history
- Boasts at least 100 private companies with $1 billion valuations and eight companies valued at over $10 billion
- China invests more each year in renewable power than any other country
- China’s online shopping is bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined
- On track to become the world’s biggest filer of patents
- Building a new Silk Road to improve trade relationships
- Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and will host 2022 Winter Olympics
- Largest population in the world
- China is now the world’s second largest economy - and the largest if measured in PPP terms
Business Highlights
TBC had 41 students in Fall 2017, 71% business students, of which the majority secured a semester-long internship in Beijing.
Jan 2018 TBC welcomed 9 students from Le Moyne College for the Business school’s Madden in Asia program, a J-term Business Finance course featuring a site visit and roundtable at Deloitte’s Beijing office.
TBC’s semester program offers on average four business and economics courses per semester:
One Economics course per semester chosen from:
- China in the World Economy
- One Finance course per semester chosen from:
- Business Finance
- International Financial Management
- One International Business course per semester chosen from:
- Doing Business in China
- International Business
- One Marketing course per semester chosen from:
- Fundamentals of Marketing
- International Marketing
TBC offers courses in:
- Business and Economics (4 per semester)
- Chinese Studies and Humanities (5-6 per semester)
- Social Sciences (2 to 3 per semester)
- Arts, Film and Theatre (2-3 per semester)
- Theology (1-2 per semester)
- Mathematics and Statistics (1 per semester)
- Special Themed Courses (3 per semester)
- Internship Course (1 per semester)
To learn more about TBC’s course offerings visit https://thebeijingcenter.org/courses