School of Journalism and Media Sends Students to Beijing During Spring Break

Twelve students enrolled in the Chinese Media and Society course at the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media visited the Chinese capital city of Beijing from March 10 through March 20 as part of the study abroad requirement for the class. Students had the opportunity to visit and experience top media and high-tech venues, prominent college campuses, and world-renowned historical sites during the trip.

It was an eye-opening and rare firsthand learning experience for the participants in sites visits and face-to-face interactions with media professionals involving organizations such as the China National Radio (CNR), a global leader in multi-platform broadcasting in the new media era; iQIYI, the most popular online video sharing site in China with their in-house studios whose programs are available via smartphones, PDAs, and conventional TVs; Beijing Language and Culture University Press, a niche university publisher in multi-format delivery of educational content to a global audience; Huanqiu.com, a popular news site in China that exerts a voice to a global base of readership; and Baidu, often nicknamed China’s Google and a world leader in incorporating artificial intelligence in its breakthrough apps and inventions.

Students also visited top-ranked Chinese universities such as the Communication University of China (CUC) and Tsinghua University, and had lengthy conversations with their Chinese counterparts on a wide range of issues and topics from campus life, journalism and media practices, to personal hobbies. Among popular tourist hotspots, the students went to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, and various sites for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The group also had the unbeatable experience of enjoying Beijing roast duck at the world-famous Quanjude Restaurant in the busy commercial street of Wangfujing

"Visiting China was an amazing experience in so many different ways," said Morgan Lloyd, a broadcast journalism major in the school. "Not only did we all gain a better cultural understanding of China, but by visiting the different media businesses we were able to compare and contrast the media industry in China versus the United States. The people we interacted with gave invaluable insight that will benefit all of the students' understanding of global media."

The faculty director of the program is Zixue Tai, an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Media.

“The United States and China will have vital roles to play on the global stage in the 21st century," Tai said. "For students of media and communication, it is critically important to develop an intimate and firsthand understanding of China as they prepare for a career to rise to the evolving challenges and emerging opportunities. There is no better place to start that process than Beijing, a city that spans a history of over 3,000 years and lies at the center of China’s ongoing cultural and economic transformation."

This is the first time that a study abroad program targeted China as its destination in the UK College of Communication and Information, of which the School of Journalism and Media is a unit. The trip has been co-sponsored by the UK Confucius Institute and the Division of Confucius Institute Development at Beijing Language and Culture University.