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Chinese citizen students at New York University’s campus in Shanghai are now required to take a "civic education" course in order to have their degree conferred by the Chinese Ministry of Education.
NYU did not provide syllabi for the course in response to a reporter’s request, but according to Vice -- which first reported on the introduction of the pro-government course -- last year’s version of the course included field trips to memorials commemorating Communist martyrs and video lessons on topics like “Promoting the Prosperity and Development of Socialist Culture With Chinese Characteristics.” Another video was titled "Leading the New Normal of Economic Development." NYU Shanghai’s vice chancellor, Yu Lizhong, spoke at one of the classes.
A spokeswoman for NYU Shanghai, June Shih, said that graduates of NYU Shanghai are eligible to receive both the NYU diploma and a Chinese Ministry of Education diploma and certificate. In order to be eligible for the latter – which Shih said is important for Chinese citizen students, most of whom want to pursue careers in China -- students must take a civics class and fulfill a military service requirement. This is a China-wide requirement.
“When NYU Shanghai first opened, the understanding was that its students -- both Chinese and international -- would be able to satisfy all the requirements of the Chinese diploma through courses that count towards their NYU diploma,” Shih said. “However, in summer 2018, the Shanghai government conducted an accreditation review. That fall, they notified us that in order for our Chinese citizen students to continue to qualify for the Chinese diploma, they would have to take a version of the civics course that all other Chinese citizen college students are required to take."
"East China Normal University (ECNU), the Chinese university with which NYU partnered to create NYU Shanghai, agreed to develop and provide this course to our Chinese students," Shih continued. "Our Chinese students were notified that the course would be held outside the regular term over eight days during the Winter Break. All Chinese citizen students beginning with the Class of 2022 will be required to take the civics course over two winter breaks, for a total of 16 days, in order for them to be eligible for the Chinese Ministry of Education diploma and certificate."
Shih said that the course is not included on NYU transcripts, and that participation in the course has no bearing on a student's eligibility for the NYU diploma. She confirmed that Chancellor Yu gave a lecture on ecology, environment and sustainable development last year.
