On the afternoon of October 22nd, the six-member delegation led by Prof. Thomas Burish, the Provost (Executive President) of the University of Notre Dame from U.S. visited UCASS. The delegation was warmly received by Prof. Wang Xinqing, Vice President of UCASS and President of Graduate School of CASS, and Prof. Zhang Bo, Vice President of UCASS.
In their exchanges, Prof. Wang Xinqing warmly welcomed Prof. Thomas Burish and his delegation. Building upon the strength of exchanges initiated since last year, two sides have already seen successful two-way exchange of visits of both students and faculty members, resulting in fruitful academic interactions and consultation-based consensus. This visit of delegation led by the Provost will create new momentum for even stronger cooperation between the two universities.
Prof. Thomas Burish acknowledged the hospitality of the host and congratulated UCASS on its latest achievements. With high appraisals for how UCASS operates, he extended his invitation to UCASS students and faculty to visit University of Notre Dame for further exchanges. In an effort to scale up bilateral cooperation, new pathways will be explored, such as arrangement of joint research programs among faculty members and co-organized symposiums.
After the work meeting, Prof. Burish delivered a presentation to the UCASS community on Building a Bridge for Higher Education: University of Notre Dame and China, with Prof. Zhang Bo chairing the session.
In his presentation, Prof. Burish expounded on the 40 years of Notre Dame interactions with China. As an institution characterized by both discipline-based knowledge sharing and all-round education, Notre Dame has designed its curriculum in such a manner to provide guidance for not only extensiveness in one’s academic quest but also intensiveness in specific academic research, while maintaining the right balance between imparting knowledge and inspiring students to create knowledge. Notre Dame is also a university heavily committed to internationalized learning experiences, with around 75% of its undergraduates traveling overseas for study or exchange programs annually. Afterwards, Prof. Burish also stayed for an interactive session with UCASS students.
