Miami University will close its Confucius Institute this summer

MacMillan Hall, home of Global Initiatives programs.

The Confucius Institute, a Beijing-based nonprofit organization aimed at promoting the study of Chinese language and culture, opened a center at Miami University in 2007. The university will close the institute June 30.

The Confucius Institute at Miami University (CIMU), which is funded jointly by Hanban, Liaoning Normal University in Dalian, China, and Miami, has focused on language courses, martial arts courses that lead to certification, noncredit cultural and language programs and courses, and showcasing students’ knowledge and skills in cross-cultural programming.

Miami’s Global Initiatives programs will refocus efforts on a more comprehensive strategy for international student support that is more inclusive and provides a more diverse range of programming to share languages and cultures with the campus and community and to enhance the student experience.

While other universities have reported a perceived lack of academic freedom with their Confucius institutes, that has not been the case with the CIMU.

Miami’s Global Initiatives program believes it can more effectively provide cultural, intercultural and global learning programming and support through an international student center. This will be administered through the office of International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) in the space where the CIMU now resides.

With a new center, current efforts will be formalized in a centralized location for advising, co-curricular programming and more opportunities for domestic students to connect with international students, faculty and staff.