CFT

ChinaForum Tübingen

01/03/2018 to 28/02/2021

The German education system is often said to offer insufficient training in matters related to China. With the
‘ChinaForum’ project, the University of Tübingen (UT) intends to address this lack. The project aims to
increase ‘China competence’ across all of UT and its environment. A core objective is the development of a
communication network in order to create a new awareness of China as a potential partner for academic
and scientific cooperation. This can serve as a model for other universities to emulate or adapt.
This network consists of the following four ‘nodes’: ChinaDirectory, ChinaResources, ChinaDesk, and
‘Initiative Horizontwandel’ (reshaping perceptions of China). The project’s target groups are staff,
researchers, and students from all faculties, in particular students undertaking teacher training and young
German and Chinese scholars. The project does not aim solely to disseminate knowledge about China;
rather, it aims to establish a shared expertise in and routinize all matters related to cooperation with China.
At the same time, the project seeks to inspire the consolidation and development of existing cooperative
endeavors with Chinese partners in order that they become more dynamic and sustainable.
Underlying the planned measures is the pivotal concept of fostering new approaches to the topic of ‘China’,
along with encouraging attitudes of curiosity and open-mindedness towards China. To this end, in addition
to the existing informal China network at UT, new means of providing information and disseminating
knowledge about China, as well as new curriculum modules will be implemented and evaluated in due
course. Furthermore, new formats for intensifying contact and exchanges between German and Chinese
doctoral students and post-docs will be developed.