Mānoa: UH students gain global experience through inaugural Manoa Academy Beijing

UH News

University of Hawaiʻi at MānoaContact:Posted: Jul 23, 2017Manoa Academy Beijing students visit the Great Wall of China.Students share their completed calligraphy project.Students learn the art of tai chi.VIDEO & AUDIO link:http://bit.ly/2uRvLTFThe College of Social Sciences (CSS) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa provided an immersive experience for students through its inaugural Mānoa Academy Beijing program. Participants of the four-week summer course, which included a two-week study abroad component in Beijing, China, delved into topics of health and aging in China and Hawaiʻi, giving them a global perspective on the world around them.“One interesting aspect of China, as well as Hawaiʻi and many other places, is this changing demographic of today’s society,” said CSS Dean Denise Eby Konan. “Mānoa Academy Beijing was a great opportunity to provide students with a tailored experience that allowed them to compare aging and demographics in Hawaiʻi to what’s happening in Beijing. It really got them thinking about their own parents and their own future.”Fourteen students attended Mānoa Academy Beijing’s SOCS 180 course, an Introduction to International and Global Studies, and enjoyed a unique, hands-on experiential education.  “Mānoa Academy Beijing offered an experience that was different,” said UH Mānoa junior Anthony Silva. “It made me think differently, it made me see life differently.”Students spent the first two weeks of the course on the UH Mānoa campus, learning about health and aging and the landscape of Hawaiʻi. Students also learned conversational Mandarin from the Confucious Institute at UH Mānoa, as well as historical and cultural facts about the host country in preparation for their trip. The second half of the course was spent at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, a prestigious research university in Beijing, China, where students further explored ...

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