Notre Dame to Celebrate Opening of New Global Gateway

(photo courtesy University of Notre Dame)

The University of Notre Dame will Saturday host a series of inauguration events in China to celebrate the opening of its new Beijing Global Gateway. The university says the location will "enhance opportunities for collaboration with government, academic and multinational organizations."

Jonathan Noble, director of the Beijing Global Gateway and assistant provost for Asia, says the expansion into China represents an "important milestone" in continuing to advance the university’s academic engagement in the country. He says the university has agreements with several leading universities, including the University of Hong Kong, Tsinghua University and Peking University.

A delegation of university officials, led by Provost Thomas Burish, has been in China all week leading up to Saturday’s festivities. The events will include a panel discussion with business and higher education leaders from the United States and China titled "Building Future Communities."

"In today’s hyper-connected world scholarship is rarely conducted in an isolated environment. Students at Notre Dame can only have the opportunity to flourish if they interact with fellow students who have grown up in different nations or cultures. They also flourish by having distinctive and transformational international experiences throughout the world in places such as China," Burish said in a news release. "The Beijing Global Gateway is a vital part of Notre Dame’s commitment to strengthening internationalization, scholarly engagement and cooperation throughout the world. Working with our partners in Asia, our goal is to provide an opportunity for our students and faculty to work with colleagues in that part of the world to promote discovery and understanding."

The Beijing Global Gateway will feature a variety of programs for students, including options focusing on Chinese language and society, business, engineering and service learning. You can learn more about the new Global Gateway by clicking here.