After nearly a year of planning, Chinese is now being offered as a major at Penn State.
This fall is the first semester students were able to take higher level courses in Chinese as opposed to Asian Studies, a broader course of study.
Eric Hayot, director of the Asian Studies Program, helped develop the new major within the College of Liberal Arts and played a significant role in the process of getting it approved. He said the Chinese major -- which requires four years of language study and a semester abroad -- will provide students with a more well-rounded course of study that will be applicable to life in a global society.
"We're really trying to prepare people to engage in a high level of fluency," Hayot said. "Ultimately, our goal is to prepare people for jobs where they can take advantage of their language skills and compete with people in other universities. I think a lot of our courses are for people who want to be engaged in a lifelong way."
The College of Liberal Arts has long had a Japanese major. Although Chinese is increasingly becoming a subject of interest, he said many students tend to gravitate toward Japanese because they may have been more exposed to the country's vibrant culture.
"It's quite hard to get a clear sense of Chinese culture," Hayot said. "Chinese culture hasn't been nearly as much of an export."
Ned Kimble has studied Chinese at Penn State for three semesters and is planning on studying abroad in Beijing this spring. He said it is a challenging language but one with many benefits.
"It's been one of the most fulfilling experiences I've had at Penn State," Kimble (junior-psychology) said. "It's small classes and a really intimate setting. One of my goals is to really become a citizen of the world."
Another new addition to the Asian Studies program is advanced instruction in Hindi, the language spoken by many citizens of India and other countries throughout Asia.
Two semesters of Hindi courses have been offered at Penn State for a number of years, but if students wanted to continue study of the language, they had to take it through a videocast administered by the University of Minnesota. Now, part-time professor Ritu Jayakar teaches students interested in taking Hindi for a third or fourth semester.
"People are getting interested from a religious, cultural and business point of view," Jayakar said. "I'm hopeful that it will get popular."
No matter what major or language students pursue, Hayot stressed the importance of exposing students to Asia in any way possible.
"I think these are exciting times," Hayot said. "I want students to know we're open for business. Our goal is to get every student at Penn State to take one course on Asia."
