Program Overview
The Duke Study in China (DSIC) spring semester program based in Kunming offers students a rare opportunity to learn Chinese language and culture through an immersion in Chinese social life. Blurring boundaries between classroom and society, the program operates from a special vantage point—to study China from living within China, living in a region unsurpassable in its natural and cultural diversity.
On the academic side, the DSIC semester program in Kunming consists of two components: A. Chinese language; B. Chinese culture.
A. The Language Component
This is intensive training in Chinese language acquisition, twice as intense as regular Chinese language classes offered on the Duke home campus. The Chinese language classes are taught by Duke-trained faculty from DSIC’s host institute, Yunnan Normal University (YNU).
The classes are designed to be small, with about four students per class, in order that they receive maximum amount of guidance from the teacher. Classes meet four hours a day, five days a week, and include lecture, small group drill, conversation, and individual sessions.
In addition, each student is assigned a Chinese language partner, who is a student from YNU. For two hours each week the DSIC program students converse with their Chinese language partners. Students are also assigned a language practicum each week, a task-based language assignment in which they practice in a real life situation. At the end of each week, the students, teachers, and the director gather for lunch at the Chinese language table.
B. The Culture Component
This component consists of two courses, taught in English by the Resident Director of DSIC in Kunming:
1) The Introduction to Chinese History and Culture course meets in a seminar format twice a week, based on reading texts, viewing films, and participating in field trips, as well as discussion. This course follows an interdisciplinary approach and teaches the students to examine multiple perspectives on a range of social issues that China is currently facing.
2) The Independent Field Research course gives students the opportunity to undertake field research on an individual basis on a topic of their own choosing. The course aims to assist students in integrating what they have learned from the other courses and then apply their language and cultural skills in an action-based intellectual inquiry.
On the life side, students are provided with ample opportunities to interact with local society. They have the option of living in a homestay with Chinese families on a semester-long basis or having a Chinese roommate in the international student dorm at YNU. Students are also teamed up with a weekend host family for weekend visits.
The DSIC semester program in Kunming offers a series of weekend fieldtrips to explore the natural and cultural riches of Kunming and its vicinity. A highlight of the DSIC program in Kunming is the weeklong fieldtrip to the historic cities of Dali and Lijiang, where students can learn first-hand about ethnic minority peoples such as the Bai and the Naxi through close interaction.
Duke University Semester Course Credits
Duke University awards credit for the equivalent of four semester-length courses during the spring study abroad program in China. The intensive language course receives credit equivalent to two semester-length language courses taken in the U.S.The other two credits are for two English-taught culture courses, Chinese History and Culture and Independent Field Research.
If you are not a Duke student, please check with your university to determine if these credits will be accepted and to find out about the process to transfer the credits. For more information about the program courses, please see the 'Academics' webpage.
Language Pledge
In order to become more proficient in Chinese, students will sign a language pledge during the second week of the program. In the pledge, students promise to speak only Chinese when they are on campus and when participating in group activities.
Opportunities for Travel
Students will take numerous program-sponsored weekend trips to areas of interest in and around Kunming, usually in connection with the culture courses. There will also be a week-long field trip to the Dali and Lijiang area. Students will then be free to travel for longer distances on their own for the during the spring break period.
