Minzu University of China

Minzu University of China
中央民族大学

Former names	Central University for Nationalities
Motto	美美与共，知行合一
Type	National
Established	1941
Affiliation	State Ethnic Affairs Commission
Academic staff	1,083
Administrative staff	1,991 (including academic staff)
Students	15,800
Undergraduates	11,200
Postgraduates	4,600
Location	Beijing, Beijing Municipality, People's Republic of China 39°56′54″N 116°19′03″E / 39.94833°N 116.31750°E / 39.94833; 116.31750Coordinates: 39°56′54″N 116°19′03″E / 39.94833°N 116.31750°E / 39.94833; 116.31750
Campus	Urban
Website	www.muc.edu.cn

Minzu University of China (MUC, simplified Chinese: 中央民族大学; traditional Chinese: 中央民族大學; pinyin: Zhōngyāng Mínzú Dàxúe) is a national-level university in Haidian District, Beijing, China designated for ethnic minorities in China. Minzu University is the top university in China for ethnic minorities. It aims to be one of the best universities of its kind in the world. With the strong support of Chinese government, it has developed rapidly over the years. MUC is one of the most prestigious universities in China in ethnology, anthropology, ethnic economies, regional economics, religion studies, history, dance, and fine arts.

MUC was selected as one of 38 national key universities to directly receive funding from Project 211 and Project 985, aspiring to become a worldwide leading university. It is commonly regarded as one of the most respected institutes for higher learning in China. It is colloquially known as Míndà in Putonghua. It was formerly known in English as the Central University for Nationalities (CUN).

Name

The Chinese name has the meaning "central ethnic university", suggesting a national-level university focused on serving minority ethnic groups. The old English name translated the ethnic term as "nationalities", based on the term used in German and Russian language Marxist texts. On 20 November 2008, the university changed its official English name,^[1] apparently citing concerns that "central" might imply a location in the geographical centre of China (as it does in South-Central University for Nationalities), and the old name did not sound good. The name change of Renmin University has been cited as a precedent. The new name obscures the university's ethnic character, although student opinion has focused more on the fact that it makes obsolete the university's nickname, "the village". The Chinese word for village (Chinese: 村; pinyin: cūn) has a Hanyu pinyin spelling similar to the English abbreviation "CUN". In mainland Chinese culture, villages have homely connotations.

Academic programmes

The university awards undergraduate-level degrees in 55 academic subjects, usually after four years of study. There are 64 master's and 25 doctoral programmes. While young people from the majority Han group are the largest single ethnicity among the 15,000 students, 60% of the students and more than one third of the academic staff are from other nationalities. In addition to traditional course offerings the school offers special majors and courses such as ethnology, ethnic languages, and minority literature.^[2]

By far the strongest research areas are anthropology and ethnology, which are the mainstays of its small publishing house and journal. In 2001, the People's Daily described CUN as "China's top academy for ethnic studies."^[3] Other respected departments are the dance school and the minority language and literature departments. Other subjects are often studied from the ethnic minorities' perspective, e.g., biology courses may focus on the flora and fauna in ethnic minority areas of China.

The school offers scholarships characterized by Reza Hasmath, author of "The education of ethnic minorities in Beijing," as "very generous" to minority students who study in specialties classified by the university as ethnic minority-related, which in practice refer mostly include ethnic literature and ethnic languages.^[4] These scholarships often pay for tuition and include provisions for monthly stipends of around 100 renminbi ($14.70 US).^[5]

Minzu University participates actively in social sciences research. Its social science departments predominantly do their research with an ethnic perspective and has achieved leading research results in China in ethnic economies, regional economics, legal studies in ethnic minorities regions, ethnic administration. In particular, its economics, management, law and history departments are growing into be dynamic research institutions with the help of Project 985.

The university is the pinnacle of a national network of institutions maintained by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, although academic standards are also monitored by the State Education Commission, which means some students end up sitting for two sets of exams.

Students are required to take courses on Chinese minority theories and Marxism.^[6]

In English-speaking countries, Minzu University's main partner is the University of East London, United Kingdom.

History

The Communist Party of China first established a Nationalities Institute in its Civil War stronghold of Yan'an, in central China, in October 1941. In 1950-1952, this was merged with other ethnolinguistic and sociological departments, including elements of Peking University and Tsinghua University. The result was the Central Institute for Nationalities, which was established in 1951^[7] and officially opened on 11 June 1952. The institute was assigned a large area of parkland on the outskirts of Beijing as its campus.

Both the Yan'an and Central institutes were intended to train cadres (officials) for ethnic minority areas, as well as providing a liberal arts education for promising students from the minorities. The cadres were to be trained so they could serve as liaisons between their minority communities and the Chinese government.^[7] Their research was and is intended to support the policies of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. In its early years, the institute was caught up in the sensitive issue of classifying China's vast population into official ethnic groups, until the Cultural Revolution made conventional education almost impossible.

With the advent of Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up policy (c. 1978), the institute went through considerable changes. On the downside, it lost most of its campus to development projects; it is now in a heavily built-up area. Financial pressures in the early 21st century led to a rapid rise in student numbers, particularly of Han students.

On the upside, the institute expanded into science subjects during the 1980s and achieved university status on 30 November 1993. In 1999 it was granted "key university" status, as part of Project 211,^[7] which was supposed to identify 100 Chinese universities that would play leading roles in the 21st century. Since 2004 the university has been a participant in Project 985, a major national programme to raise 39 universities to world-class status. The campus has been almost completely reconstructed as part of this programme.

Meanwhile, Haidian has continued to develop as Beijing's main university district. CUN is now adjacent to the National Library of China and Zhongguancun, which local media refer to as "China's silicon valley."^[8] In 2006 a large site was acquired in Beijing's Fengtai district, and it is likely that a second campus will be constructed there.^[9]

Admissions

To ensure that members of the 55 recognized minority groups are admitted the school has fixed quotas for each group. As of 2011, Minzu University accepts National Higher Education Entrance Examination (Gaokao) scores with a minimum in the mid-400s, or below the 50th percentile. Out of the Beijing universities, this has one of the lowest acceptance requirements.^[6]

In China a university may admit a student whose score is barely below the cutoff score at its discretion. Sometimes minimum score levels were lowered to ensure that students from among the least-accepted minority groups would be permitted entry.^[6] The school offers remedial courses, including a one-year tutorial course that reviews the final year of senior secondary school and remedial Chinese courses to assist minority students to enroll.^[5]

The university has bridging programs to select minority students at Chinese secondary schools who are high achieving so they can attend Minzu University to prepare them for entering the highest ranked universities in Beijing. The government pays tuition for these programs.^[5]

Culture

Reza Hasmath stated that in general it is unusual for ethnic minorities in Chinese universities to promote their ethnic identity, Minzu "provides a level of acceptance that encourages students to promote their ethnic identity."^[10] He stated that ethnic minority students who originated from and were resident in Beijing for their entire lives, while attending Minzu, "were more aware of their ethnic identity and engaged more with their ethnic culture than at any other juncture of their lives."^[10]

Notable students and faculty

Arken Abdulla, Uyghur and Mandarin Chinese language pop singer-songwriter
Kahar Barat, Uyghur-American historian^[11]
Fei Xiaotong, sociologist and anthropologist
D. O. Chaoke, Evenki linguist
Han Geng, Mandopop singer and actor
Song Zuying, an ethnic Miao singer of classical Chinese and Western songs, who performed at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony
Ilham Tohti, an ethnic Uyghur professor of economics at Minzu University who was detained by police in July 2009 following riots in Ürümqi^[12]
Zhang Chengzhi, writer, once audited a class in Kazakh^[13]
May Chin, Taiwanese Aborigine actress, singer and member for parliament in the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for Highland Aborigines electoral district
Xu Han, professor at Minzu University (graduated from Tsinghua University) and creator of Ali the Fox^[14]

References

Hasmath, Reza. "The education of ethnic minorities in Beijing." Ethnic and Racial Studies. 2011. Volume 34, Issue 11. DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2011.553238. p. 1835-1854.
The Central University for Nationalities (undated, but c.2000). Beijing: CUN International Relations Office. A prospectus for Chinese and foreign students; the source for many of the dates and statistics in the first section.

Notes

↑ 中央民族大学关于启用新英文校名的通知. 中央民族大学桌报 Minzu University of China Weekly (in Chinese). 忠言民族大学校报编辑部. 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
↑ Hasmath, "The education of ethnic minorities in Beijing," p. 1845-1846.
↑
↑ Hasmath, "The education of ethnic minorities in Beijing," p. 1846-1847.
1 2 3 Hasmath, "The education of ethnic minorities in Beijing," p. 1847.
1 2 3 Hasmath, "The education of ethnic minorities in Beijing," p. 1846.
1 2 3 Hasmath, "The education of ethnic minorities in Beijing," p. 1845.
↑
↑ 中央民族大学可能迁至丰台区校方尚未证实. People's Daily Online (in Chinese). 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-03. (Archive)
1 2 Hasmath, "The education of ethnic minorities in Beijing," p. 1850.
↑ Uyghur Historian Kahar Barat Discusses Xinjiang History, Part 1, an English translation of Kahar Barat's interview by Wang Lixiong. (The Chinese original: 新疆的古代王朝与宗教转换, "The old kingdoms of Xinjiang and religious conversions")
↑ "Outspoken Economist Presumed Detained". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved July 12, 2009. (Archive) "According to his official biography, Tohti was born in Atush, Xinjiang, on Oct. 25, 1969. He graduated from the Northeast Normal University and the Economics School at the Central Nationalities University in Beijing."
↑ "影响中国社科院博导的书籍 (Books which have influenced the professors at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)". Xinhua News Agency. 2004-03-15. Retrieved 2007-04-17. (Archive)
↑ Xiong, Yuqing. "Clever like a fox." Global Times. November 18, 2013. Retrieved on February 23, 2014.

External links

Official website (simplified Chinese)
Official website (Archive)
"University of Ethnic Communities." (Archive), China.org.cn, China Internet Information Center - Feature of the university from a guide to Beijing

Project 985

Higher education and universities in China

Beijing (8)	Peking University Tsinghua University Renmin University of China Beijing Normal University Beihang University Beijing Institute of Technology China Agricultural University Minzu University of China

Shanghai (4)	Fudan University Shanghai Jiao Tong University Tongji University East China Normal University

Zhejiang (1)	Zhejiang University

Jiangsu (2)	Nanjing University Southeast University

Anhui (1)	University of Science and Technology of China

Shaanxi (3)	Xi'an Jiaotong University Northwestern Polytechnical University Northwest A&F University

Heilongjiang (1)	Harbin Institute of Technology

Jilin (1)	Jilin University

Liaoning (2)	Dalian University of Technology Northeastern University

Tianjin (2)	Nankai University Tianjin University

Shandong (2)	Shandong University Ocean University of China

Gansu (1)	Lanzhou University

Hubei (2)	Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan University

Hunan (3)	Central South University Hunan University National University of Defense Technology

Fujian (1)	Xiamen University

Chongqing (1)	Chongqing University

Sichuan (2)	Sichuan University University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Guangdong (2)	Sun Yat-sen University South China University of Technology

Project 211

Project 211

Higher education and universities in China

Beijing	Beijing Foreign Studies University Beijing Forestry University Beijing Institute of Technology Beijing Jiaotong University Beijing Normal University Beihang University Beijing University of Chemical Technology Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications Beijing University of Technology Central Conservatory of Music Central University of Finance and Economics China Agricultural University China University of Geosciences China University of Mining and Technology China University of Political Science and Law Communication University of China Minzu University of China North China Electric Power University Peking Union Medical College Peking University Renmin University of China Tsinghua University University of International Business and Economics University of Science and Technology Beijing

Shanghai	Donghua University East China Normal University East China University of Science and Technology Fudan University Second Military Medical University Shanghai International Studies University Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai University Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Tongji University

Tianjin	Nankai University Tianjin Medical University Tianjin University

Chongqing	Chongqing University

Anhui	Anhui University Hefei University of Technology University of Science and Technology of China

Fujian	Xiamen University Fuzhou University

Guangdong	Jinan University South China Normal University South China University of Technology Sun Yat-sen University

Guizhou	Guizhou University

Gansu	Lanzhou University

Hainan	Hainan University

Hebei	Hebei University of Technology

Heilongjiang	Harbin Engineering University Harbin Institute of Technology Northeast Agricultural University Northeast Forestry University

Henan	Zhengzhou University

Hubei	China University of Geosciences Wuhan University Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan University of Technology Huazhong Agricultural University Huazhong Normal University Zhongnan University of Economics and Law

Hunan	Central South University Hunan Normal University Hunan University National University of Defense Technology

Jiangsu	China Pharmaceutical University Hohai University Jiangnan University Nanjing Aeronautics and Astronautics University Nanjing Agricultural University Nanjing Normal University Nanjing University Nanjing University of Science and Technology Soochow University Southeast University

Jiangxi	Nanchang University

Jilin	Jilin University Northeast Normal University Yanbian University

Liaoning	Dalian Maritime University Dalian University of Technology Liaoning University Northeastern University

Qinghai	Qinghai University

Shaanxi	Chang'an University Fourth Military Medical University Northwest A&F University Northwest University Northwestern Polytechnical University Shaanxi Normal University Xi'an Jiaotong University Xidian University

Shandong	China University of Petroleum (Huadong) Shandong University Ocean University of China

Shanxi	Taiyuan University of Technology

Sichuan	Sichuan Agricultural University Sichuan University Southwest Jiaotong University Southwestern University of Finance and Economics University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Yunnan	Yunnan University

Zhejiang	Zhejiang University

Guangxi	Guangxi University

Inner Mongolia	Inner Mongolia University

Ningxia	Ningxia University

Tibet	Tibet University

Xinjiang	Shihezi University Xinjiang University

See also: Project 985

Universities and colleges in Beijing

Education, Higher education, and Universities in China

National	Peking University Renmin University of China Tsinghua University Beijing Electronic Science and Technology Institute Beijing Foreign Studies University Beijing Forestry University Beijing Institute of Technology Beijing Jiaotong University Beijing Language and Culture University Beijing Normal University Beijing People's Police College Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Beijing University of Chemical Technology Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Beijing University of Physical Education Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications Central Academy of Drama Central Conservatory of Music Central University of Finance and Economics China Agricultural University China Central Academy of Fine Arts China Foreign Affairs University China Institute of Industrial Relations China University of Geosciences (Beijing campus) China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing campus) China University of Petroleum (Beijing) China University of Political Science and Law China Women's University China Youth University for Political Sciences Chinese People's Public Security University Communications University of China Minzu University of China North China Electric Power University (Beijing campus) North China University of Technology Open University of China Peking Union Medical College University of Chinese Academy of Sciences University of International Business and Economics University of International Relations University of Science and Technology Beijing

Municipal	Beijing International Studies University Beijing Information Science and Technology University Beijing Technology and Business University Beijing University of Technology Beijing University of Agriculture Beijing Materials University Capital University of Economics and Business Capital University of Medical Sciences Capital Normal University North China University of Technology China College of Music Beijing Dance Academy Beijing Film Academy Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology Beijing Institute of Machinery Beijing Union University

Private	Beijing City College

See also: List of universities in China

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