Listening Summit Fall

2015 Wuzhen, China

About Pepperdine University

• Pepperdine University is a medium-size university enrolls approximately 8,300 students.

• Location: Malibu, California, the United States.

• The university includes 4 undergraduate college and 4 graduate schools: Business School, Law School, School of Psychology and Education and School of Public Policy.

• Additionally, the university has 6 international programs around the world: London UK, Heidelbourg Germany, Lausanne Switzerland, Florence Italy, BA Argentina and Shanghai China.

Previous Subjects• Subject of Spring 2012

• Past, Present and Prospect of the Sino-American Diplomatic Relation (Guest Speaker: Professor Ni Shixiong, Former Director of Center of American Studies from Fudan University)

• Subject of Fall 2012

• Comparison of the Chinese and American Education System (Guest Speaker: Professor Chen Yuan, Deputy Director of School of Social Sciences, Fudan University)

• Subject of Fall 2013:

• Urbanization. (Guest Speaker: Dr.Pan Tianshu, Professor of Anthropology at Fudan University, Dr.Robert Williams, Professor of International Relations from Pepperdine University)

Subject of Fall 2014 & 2015

• Theme: Climate Change (Economics, Politics and Environment)

• Speakers:

• -Mr.Charlie Engelmann, Director of the Pepperdine Shanghai Program and Former Corporation Spokesman of Exxon Mobil.

• -Professor Zhong Yang, Dean of the Graduate Schools of Fudan University and Biologist

• -Professor Ni Shixiong, expert in international relations and geopolitics and former Director of Center of American Studies, Fudan University.

Who will attend?

• 10 students from the Pepperdine Shanghai Program and 10 students from Fudan University’s different schools will be selected.

How to Apply?

• Submit a letter of motivation with your resume to William Wu: William.WU@pepperdine.edu

• Deadline of Application: October 18th 2015

Goal of Listening Summit

• Cultural exchange: opportunity of better understand the cultural difference between China and the US/other countries.

• Knowledge: to have deeper understanding on the topics.

• Skills: develop capabilities in analyzing, debating and speaking.

• Opportunity to make Chinese friends

What do we provide?

• Expenses during the listening summit are covered by university.

• We provide over hotel rooms, meals, transportations, visit to local sites.

• Two students from each university will share a room.

Discussion Questions

What is culture?

What is cultural difference?

What are the major differences between the American cultural and Chinese culture?

Why cultures are so different?

Why is cultural exchange important?

What are the cultural exchange activities that you would suggest?

Any good examples or experiences of cultural exchange across the history?

Discussion Questions

What is climate change?

What are the current issues of climate change?

Why is the impact of climate change important for China and the globe?

What are the major differences between the Chinese and western perspectives regarding climate change and environment protection?