CSI says goodbye to 3 scholars   
   Delegation returns to China after visit to Willowbrook campus, part of international studies program

Staten Island Advance - Thursday, February 09, 2006

The College of Staten Island is bidding farewell to a delegation of Chinese scholars -- three up-and-coming government leaders from the city of Shanghai -- as its six-month-long New Leaders for the 21st Century Training Program draws to a close.

The international studies program has been a major area of focus for the Willowbrook campus in recent years, and the program that brings scholars from China's Shanghai Education Center for Administrators has operated since 2001. Sponsored by the college's Center for International Service and the Shanghai municipal government, the program helps maintain the college's longstanding connection with China.

The visiting scholars came to Staten Island to improve their English skills, sit in on courses and undergo a sort of cultural training through immersion.

"Our task is to learn more," said Pengyu Zhang, a visiting scholar who is vice director of the Youth Federation in Mingang District, Shanghai, following a presentation on Shanghai that he and his colleagues made in the CSI's Center for the Arts yesterday. "We wanted to learn more, see more, think more."

The scholars lived with Staten Islanders in Travis and Castleton Corners, but spent some of the past six months traveling the United States. Zhang and the delegation leader, Jia He Song, director of the Zhoujia Qiao District Changning Government, Shanghai, spent Thanksgiving in an Amish community in Pennsylvania.

The group members also conducted focused research relating to their respective professional fields. Zhang, for example, spent much of his visit exploring and comparing youth programs.

Weiwan Xu, chairwoman of the Youth Federation in Xuhui District, Shanghai, visited Girl Scout organizations and studied international political economy and American public policy during her stay.

While Ms. Xu stressed that New York City is very similar to Shanghai, she said that experiencing the culture of a distinct political system has given her a "global view," which she believes will help her make decisions when she effects public policy.

CSI, which declared this academic year to be the "year of China," drew on the scholars as resources this semester, according to Ann Helm, director of the Center for International Service. "This program ties Staten Island to Shanghai in a tangible way," she added.

The scholars return to Shanghai on Tuesday. CSI will welcome the next set of visitors in June.
 

By Tevah Platt and Johanna Roed
Reprinted here with permission from the