Chinese | North Central College

College hosts Midwest Conference on Chinese Thought this weekend

The College’s East Asian studies program will host the seventh annual Midwest Conference on Chinese Thought, May 6-7. The free, two-day conference seeks to foster dialogue and interaction among scholars and students and will feature Michael Puett, professor of Chinese history at Harvard University, in a keynote address at 4:30 Saturday, May 7. The title of his talk is “Ancestors, Fathers and Sons: Ritual Theory and Philosophy in Early China.”

North Central College students, alumni impacted by disaster in Japan

Student Ereka Funkhauser photographed this scene near her home in Japan.

Life in Japan is gradually returning to normal for North Central College student Ereka Funkhouser.

Funkhouser—a junior majoring in Japanese and classical civilization—studies at Iwate University in Morioka, a town of about 300,000 located in the Iwate Prefecture. She was shaken by the March 11 earthquake, but her school 40 miles from the coast was not directly impacted by the devastating tsunami.

Celebrate Chinese New Year Feb. 15

The Chinese Club invites the community to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit Tuesday, Feb. 15.

Jan. 21, 2011—North Central College’s Chinese Club will host its annual Chinese New Year Festival from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, in the Harold and Eva White Activities Center, 325 E. Benton Ave., Naperville.

The free event celebrates the Year of the Rabbit and will start with the traditional Lion Dance and feature Chinese instruments and music, Chinese martial arts, games and authentic food.

Record number of students to present at national research conference

A record 38 students from various academic areas will represent North Central at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research this spring.

Contact: Nancy Dunker, associate director of public relations, 630-637-5306

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Jan. 31, 2011)—For the second year, a record number of North Central College students have been chosen to participate in the nation’s leading conference on undergraduate research.

D-Term courses take students around the globe

In December, students take advantage of life-changing study abroad opportunities.

Jan. 24, 2011—North Central College’s trimester format offers students a break from regular classes between Thanksgiving and the new year. During December—or D-Term—students can take advantage of North Central’s study abroad opportunities.

North Central College offers five-year bachelor’s/master’s degree in leadership

North Central College is offering a new option to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a master of leadership studies degree in just five years.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Nov. 16, 2010)—North Central College is offering a new option to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a master of leadership studies degree in just five years.

Students accepted into this program earn both a bachelor’s degree—in any discipline—and the master of leadership studies with the completion of 141 credit hours.

Michael Gross '10

Michael Gross ’10 found he had the right combination of talents to land a great job in a tough economy.

Michael Gross ’10 found he had the right combination of talents to land a great job in a tough economy. With an international business major, Chinese minor and experience studying and interning in Beijing, Gross landed an internship with The Boeing Company. Then he was offered the opportunity to enter the company’s prestigious leadership development program in Seattle. He moved west in June. “There were 10 other candidates for the program but only one knew Chinese,” says Gross, the 2010 Outstanding Major in International Business.

Record number of international students join College student body

The Office of International Programs welcomes 41 new students who are part of a record 54 nonimmigrant international students enrolled at North Central College this fall. They come from 28 countries and include new first year and transfer students, returning students, eight graduate students, 16 new exchange students and five who are sponsored by the Global UGRAD program.

Alum Lands Fulbright

Parker Gadbois ’09 has earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to teach English in Yilan, Taiwan, about an hour south of Taipei. He begins his assignment on August 1.

Michael Gross

“Knowing Chinese opens a lot of doors and carries that ‘wow factor,’” says Michael. In fact, he believes his proficiency in Chinese helped him land an internship with The Boeing Company—and later a spot in the company’s prestigious leadership development program. “When 10 candidates apply for a job and you’re the only one who knows Chinese, you really stand out from the crowd,” he notes.

Michael took Chinese courses during his first three years at North Central, then joined one of the College’s study abroad programs in China. He also worked in Beijing as a marketing intern with Ai Media Group.

North Central’s Chinese minor makes a potentially intimidating subject accessible, according to Michael. “Our faculty know how to teach the language,” he says. “You never tackle more than you can handle at one time, but there are no limits to how far you can go.”