Phone:
888.272.7881 (toll-free in US)
802.258.3212
TTY:
802.258.3388
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802.258.3296
Mailing Address:
PO Box 676, 1 Kipling Road
Brattleboro, VT 05302 USA
China: Chinese Culture and Ethnic Minorities
Program Overview
In the China: Chinese Culture and Ethnic Minorities study abroad program, students examine China's extraordinary cultural complexity in Yunnan Province, one of the world's most anthropologically and ecologically diverse locations. Through direct engagement with multiple sources of knowledge, students explore traditional cultures and beliefs, the impact of tourism on minority cultures, and the growing gap between urban and rural life in China. Intensive Chinese language instruction and homestays with host families in both urban and rural settings allow students to examine critical issues surrounding China's rich diversity from unique perspectives and in varied environments. The program's highly-regarded language component yields six academic language credits.
Carefully-designed field excursions expose students to the environmental, cultural, and economic realities that characterize the region's different ethnic minorities. Visits to Dali, Lijiang, and Zhongdian bring students into direct engagement with local scholars, medical and development professionals, and Daoist, Buddhist, Islamic, and Christian religious leaders. Through intensive cultural immersion with regional experts and residents, students acquire a heightened appreciation for China's rich multicultural history while developing exceptional cross-cultural skills. Students return from the program with entirely new tools, networks, and knowledge as well as a greatly-broadened perspective on the major issues and challenges confronting China today.
Yunnan: The Cradle of Cultural Diversity
The China: Chinese Culture and Ethnic Minorities program is based in southwest China's Yunnan Province, distinguished for its exceptional cultural diversity and impressive natural beauty. Home to 25 of China's 55 officially recognized minority groups, the region's complexity challenges what many erroneously believe to be a monolithic culture. Sharing its border with Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar, Yunnan Province provides a rare glimpse into southwestern China, where South, Southeast, and East Asian cultures uniquely intersect. Yunnan's diverse topography ranges from alpine mountain ranges to tropical rainforests and boasts more than 18,000 plant species. The region is home to an outstanding array of animals, including the Asian elephant and the protected Yunnan golden monkey.
Within this extraordinary diversity, ethnic minorities, cultural organizations, government officials, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) work to maintain the culture and identity of many of China's most ancient and prominent minority nationalities. Students examine these dynamics while learning from, and working with, first-rate organizations such as Yunnan Nationalities University, The Nature Conservancy, Save the Children (UK), Yunnan Eco-Network, and the Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge (CBIK). Yunnan Province serves as a hub of NGO activity in China allowing students to examine firsthand the evolution and modes of operation by which these organizations must work with the government in order to accomplish their objectives.
