On April 17, 2012, a delegation of social work professors from East China Normal University (ECNU) visited the UNC School of Social Work to discuss potential collaborative research.
They met with Dean Jack Richman; faculty members Joelle Powers, Mark Fraser, Kathleen Rounds, Mimi Chapman, and Shenyang Guo; and Meihua Zhu and Yan Ming, visiting scholars from China at the UNC School of Social Work.
Faculty attending from ECNU’s School of Social Development were: Jinhong Dean, dean and professor; Jun Wen, associate dean and professor; Xiaoyan Han, associate dean and associate professor; Wenming Zhang, associate dean and associate professor; Ruijun Wu, professor, director of the Population Institute; and Quiling An, associate professor, deputy chair of the Department of Social Work. Quiling An was a visiting professor last year at the UNC School of Social Work.
Deans Richman and Ding started off the meeting with an overview of their school’s programs, then faculty members learned about some of the research each school is doing.
ECNU’s social work program is a new one, about two years old. They are currently working with New York University, which is building a campus in Shanghai, and are looking to develop collaborative programs with other universities as well. The primary purpose of this trip was getting to know each other.
“International collaboration takes time,” said Richman, reflecting on the visit. “It’s about establishing relationships first; then resources and research follow. This was an early step in developing a relationship.”
The UNC School of Social Work has worked with another university in Shanghai for several years, East China University of Science and Technology, and signed “memorandums of understanding” with them and with schools in India and Sweden, leading to opportunities for international research collaboration and faculty and student exchanges.Event photos
