The Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Language and Culture (IPCLC) makes the first appraisal of conferences and projects

On the morning of March 24, 2009, the Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Language and Culture (IPCLC) of Renmin University held its first appraisal meeting for open tender projects. Vice President, Professor Yang Huilin, welcomed the members, briefly explained the projects and the structure of the academic committee, and offered contracts to the academic committee members.

The appraisal meeting was presided over by Professor Cui Xiliang, Director of the Academic Committee and President of Beijing Language and Culture University. At the meeting, the form and procedure was first decided, and members agreed to openly discuss all the projects before making the final decision through secret ballot. It is a basic principle that the same person could not take charge of more than one project, and that one project could not be undertaken by more than one team.

The open tender projects of IPCLC for 2008-2009 include twelve strategic research projects and ten applied research projects. There are twenty seven projects waiting to be appraised by this committee.    

Some of the projects in discussion have appropriate themes with clear logic, and some with unique research perspectives. At the same time, committee members also felt that some projects did not match with the ethos of IPCLC, which is “integrating macro control and strategic research”. Some themes such as “Case studies on cultural export methods” attracted too much attention but some projects received no application. What is more, some projects tended to be unrealistic, and still others were not specific or were short of clarity.

In the end, members of the Academic Committee held secret ballots to make the final decisions, and seven of the twenty seven applications were approved by the committee for obtaining more than 2/3 votes. They are as follows:

1. “The Legal Status of Confucius Institutes in their Host Countries”
 2.  “Xu Fancheng and the International dissemination of Chinese culture in 20th century”
 3. “Benjamin I. Schwartz’s deep sinological interpretation and its significance to    the construction of contemporary Chinese culture and thought”
 4. “The change of China’s Image in the West and research into its history and historical roots”
 5. “The Reception of Laozi’s ideas in German philosophies”
 6. “Session One of the Bilingual Educational TV Series of ‘Peking Opera’”  
 7. “Analysis of the American Project of ‘the Expansion of Chinese language and its Political Influence’: reception and cultural countermeasure”

Committee members also encouraged the three following projects to be modified and sent for next appraisal because such projects did not have adequate arguments, or their topics were too general. It is suggested by the committee as well that the team members of these projects need adjustment. Such projects are:  
1) “William Jones and the Spread of Chinese Classics in the World”
2) “Analysis of the ‘Development Bottleneck’ of the Promotion of Chinese and the
 Possible Countermeasures
3) “Research into ‘the Important Strategic Chance for the Promotion of Chinese”

The opinions and suggestions for the projects will be delivered to the tenders soon. IPCLC will sign the contracts with team leaders of those approved projects and organize another meeting of experts for the detailed proposals of the projects. Then IPCLC will appropriate funds accordingly.