New business course travels overseas

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Pacific is offering a business administration course in spring 2013 that will give students a short-term study abroad opportunity to China.  The four-credit course is broken down into two sections, the first being 255-01: Doing Business in China, which has a capacity of 20 students.  The second section of the course 355-01, the travel portion, has a capacity of 15 students.
The duration of the trip is from June 8 to June 30 and its current estimated cost is $3,600. There are some scholarships available for short-term study abroad.
Students taking the travel portion of the course will be going to Nanjing, China, where they will be attending classes at South East University.  While in Nanjing, students will be staying in the centrally-located International students’ dorm.
This trip to China was first envisioned by Jeffrey Barlow of the history department, and with his retirement last year, it’s now being led by Sheila Griffie, assistant professor of business.
Students do not need to be business majors to take this course, but they must have sophomore standing to be eligible.   Classes at South East University will also be taught in English, so being able to speak Chinese is not required. Griffie added that whether they’re a Chinese language student, history major, business major, they should be interested in the course.
The course will be covering topics such as international business communications, China’s economic development, its culture and its geography.  Teaching the Chinese language will not be a large focus of the course, but students will get familiar with it by learning how to say things like “please,” “thank you” and “good morning” for basic survival skills.
Griffie said China has the world’s second largest economy, the fastest-growing economy and it’s forecasted to account for 50 percent of all world trade in the near future.  “There has been a lot of interest in China in our classes and we have a growing Chinese language program and it just seemed like the right time for this course,” said Griffie.
“We hope to get students to a point where they are more aware of China as a presence on the world stage,” said Griffie. “It’s more than just about the economy, it’s getting a better understanding of the culture, as well as the geography and how business is done in China.”
While staying in Nanjing, students will also have the opportunity to visit other cities, including Shanghai. There will be the opportunity to do some company visits, as well as formal get-togethers with other students who will be staying at the international dorm.   Other activities will include going up to the Nanjing city wall, and visiting the Massacre Museum in Purple Mt., where the tomb of Sun Yat-Sen is located.  Griffie said Sun Yat-Sen is like the equivalent of George Washington for many of the Chinese.
“This is an exciting opportunity for students that are looking to add travel to their Pacific experience,” said Griffie.  “Pacific has a lot of experience with short-term study abroad and we’re glad to be able to add this to the list of opportunities for our students.”
If anyone has any questions regarding the course, they can contact Sheila Griffie at sgriffie@pacificu.edu.

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