Dear BACS-list members,

Please find below information about the new plans for Chinese Studies at
the University of Manchester, which I've culled from their advertisement
for a Chair (deadline 30 May): fuller information is available there, on
http://www.man.ac.uk/news/vacancies/HUM105revised.pdf

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The Development of Chinese Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the
University of Manchester


The inaugural Chair of Chinese Studies presents an excellent opportunity
for an outstanding scholar to create a high-quality centre for
multidisciplinary research and teaching in Chinese Studies at the
University of Manchester.

Following the merger in October 2004 of the Victoria University of
Manchester and UMIST, the University has allocated investment of £900,000
to support the £2.5 million first-phase development of Chinese Studies.
This is the first major initiative of the new Faculty of Humanities. With a
turnover in excess of £100 million, 900 academic staff and 15,000 students,
the Faculty is the largest of the University’s four faculties and
comparable in its scale to a medium-sized UK university such as York.
Humanities embraces a wide range of academic activity across eight schools,
whose disciplines enjoy international reputations in research and teaching
that rank amongst the best in the UK: Arts, Histories and Cultures;
Manchester Business School; Education; Environment and Development;
Informatics; Law; Languages, Linguistics and Cultures; and Social
Sciences..

While all the Schools can point to interests in the study of China, its
people, culture, business, law, governance and language, the Faculty
envisages that research and teaching in Chinese Studies will be developed
with particular intensity in a limited number of the Schools, including
where existing interests lie such as in the Manchester Business School and
in Social Sciences. The study of Mandarin Chinese will be an integral
component of the development, building on related activity in Linguistics
and Translation Studies within the School of Languages, Linguistics and
Cultures, enriching other research areas and allowing a deeper
understanding of Chinese culture.

Research in Chinese Studies will be brought into focus through a cross-
School Centre for Chinese Studies. The Chair of Chinese Studies will act as
Director of the Centre, which has been conceived to fulfil the University’s
agenda for innovative, interdisciplinary activity. In accordance with
Faculty procedures, the Centre will have a Strategy Board that will, in the
initial stages, be chaired by the Dean and will include the Director and
relevant Heads of School. The governance arrangements through which the
Director will be expected to lead the Centre are attached for information.
The Centre’s remit will include the development of applied research in
accordance with the University’s aims for knowledge transfer. As the
research profile develops this is expected to lead to the establishment of
a China Think Tank to provide leadership in promotion of applied research
and knowledge transfer.

Teaching will include PhD, MA and undergraduate programmes. The
University’s investment in understanding China enjoys the strong support of
the local Chinese community, who will be represented on an Advisory Board.
Links with key Chinese institutions are currently being strengthened
(Fudan, etc) and the Director of the Centre for Chinese Studies will be
expected to have a key role in developing and maintaining research and
teaching links with such institutions, on behalf not only of the Faculty
but also of the University as a whole The Centre will be co-located with
the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures in an International
House, a major project in partnership with the linguistic and
cultural agencies of associated states based in Manchester (eg. Goethe
Institut, Alliance Française). With the strong support of the local Chinese
community and the Chinese Consulate-General, the University is exploring
the possibility of establishing a Confucius Institute at the University,
sponsored by the Chinese government.

........ In addition to the Chair, the investment plan for the first phase
includes provision for seven lectureships and two teaching fellows
in Mandarin. One of the posts, a Lectureship in Translation Studies with
Mandarin, has been advertised recently and the appointee will be a member
of the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures. The distribution of
the remaining lectureships will be determined in consultation with the
Chair.

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[log in to unmask]    www.bacsuk.org.uk

Dr Carol Rennie, Honorary Secretary
British Association for Chinese Studies
c/o The British Academy
10 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5AH

Fax: 020 7969 5414
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