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Educational Relations Between the University of Minnesota and China (1914-2018)1

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Educational Relations Between the University of Minnesota and China (1914-2018)1 Looking into the Mirror of History: Educational Relations between the University of Minnesota and China (1914-2018)1 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Hui Bi IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Dr. Gerald W. Fry and Dr. Andrew Furco, co-advisers August 2018 © Hui Bi 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ideas are never developed in isolation; they always require the stimulation and the support of a community of people. In my case, the intellectual and emotional debt I have accumulated since I embarked on this project is enormous. I am greatly indebted to my parents for their unconditional love and support for so many years, even though no words can express fully the filial love and gratitude their daughter has felt for them. My thanks also go to my husband, Tian Tang, for his persistent confidence in my ability, and to my son, Harvey, for being my source of joy and inspiration everyday. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my advisors, Dr. Gerald Fry and Dr. Andrew Furco, for all their great patience and support which made it possible for me to carry out this study. Thank them for guiding me through my doctoral journey with their insights and expertise. I am also greatly indebted to the outstanding committee members, Dr. Christopher Johnstone, and Dr. Ann Waltner, for their invaluable suggestions on the drafts of this dissertation. I would like to thank my professors at the College of Education and Human Development. What I have learnt from their classes has been extremely beneficial for me to carry out this project. I am very much obliged to China Center of the University of Minnesota for giving me the opportunity to work on this exciting project. This project would not have been possible without the resources and support provided by China Center. i Last but not the least, I am so grateful for all the alumni, administrators, and professors that I have interviewed throughout this project. I was so privileged that they shared their marvelous life-stories with me, and I deeply appreciate their insights on this project, their wisdom on life, and their wonderful sense of humor that made this project more fun and interesting. ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my son, Harvey. iii ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, there has been an increase in educational programs across the globe. The U.S. has become the most popular destination country for international students among which Chinese students comprise the biggest proportion. In analyzing and studying contemporary situations about Chinese international students in the U.S., the influence of the historical context on institutional policies and students' experiences has been largely ignored. This study intends to fill this major gap. This study emphasizes the historical contexts of continuously and dramatically changing global circumstances and how they have influenced the discourses of educational exchanges between the U.S. and China. It focuses on the University of Minnesota as a case of U.S. institutions to explore how institutional efforts to engage international students have evolved over more than one hundred years from 1914 to 2018. It examines the economic, political, global, and cultural contexts during different historical stages and how those contextual factors have affected institutional commitments of U.S. universities on their educational exchanges with China. This project has been approved by the University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board University of Minnesota IRB Study Number: 1312E46581 Principal Investigator: Hui Bi iv TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................. xi Chapter I: Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 A Historical Review of Chinese Students in the U.S. ................................................................................ 3 1872-1910: Chinese Educational Mission (CEM) ................................................................................. 3 1910-1949: Boxer Indemnity Scholarship and Republic of China ................................................... 6 1949-1978: People’s Republic of China and Cold War ....................................................................... 9 1978 – present: New Era of Modernization and Opening-up .......................................................... 11 Purpose and Research Questions .................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter II: Literature Review ............................................................................................................... 17 Rationales and Incentives ................................................................................................................................. 17 Educational Rationales ................................................................................................................................. 17 Economic Rationales .................................................................................................................................... 21 Political Rationales ........................................................................................................................................ 24 Cultural Rationales ........................................................................................................................................ 25 Institutional Strategies for Internationalization ......................................................................................... 26 Challenges .............................................................................................................................................................. 28 Chapter III: Methodolgy ......................................................................................................................... 31 Case-Study Research Method ......................................................................................................................... 32 Research Site ................................................................................................................................................... 32 Data Collection Procedures .............................................................................................................................. 34 Archive Analysis ............................................................................................................................................ 35 Individual Interviews .................................................................................................................................... 36 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................................................................ 37 Validity Issues ................................................................................................................................................. 38 Language Issues .............................................................................................................................................. 39 Ethical Issues ................................................................................................................................................... 40 Limitations of the Study .................................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter IV: The Beginning of The Linkages (1914-1948) ......................................................... 43 The University of Minnesota and China ...................................................................................................... 45 The Pioneers Exploring the Far East (Before 1914) ................................................................................ 46 The Three Fore-Runners from China (1914-1948) .................................................................................. 50 Pan Wen Ping (潘文炳) ............................................................................................................................... 52 Pan Wen Huen (潘文辉) ............................................................................................................................. 55 Kwong Yih Kum (邝翼堃) ......................................................................................................................... 56 Early Representation of China on the University Campus .................................................................... 58 Chinese Students at the University Took the Stage ............................................................................ 59 Chinese Guest Speakers at the University ............................................................................................. 60 Chinese Educators Learning at the University ..................................................................................... 62 Chinese Arts at the University ................................................................................................................... 63 Chinese Language Program at the University .....................................................................................
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