UW-Platteville students will benefit from one of 41 Confucius Institutes in the United States being housed on the first floor of Royce Hall.

UW-P will reap the benefits of having the Confucius Institute on campus, David Van Buren, dean of the Confucius Institute at UW-P, said. The university has strong partnerships with Asia already, and this Institute will provide students, and the surrounding area, a chance to learn about the Chinese culture.

“There is a demand for Chinese in the business world and academic world,” Marian Maciej-Hiner, director of the Confucius Institute, said.

The Institute will be staffed by two professors from UW-P’s partner Institute, South-Central University for Nationalities, in Wuhan, China, Barb Daus, special assistant to the chancellor, said. The professors, He Gan Jun and Wang Xiaojun, will stay for 16 months to help set up the Institute at UW-P.

“The Confucius Institute will provide instruction on the language and culture,” Van Buren said. “These are not for-credit courses; it will not compete with the UW-P curriculum.”

The Institute will provide classes in the culture, history and language, Van Buren said. UW-P will benefit from instructors provided by the partner school, books and other materials to build a Chinese library within the Institute and financial support for the Institute.

“It will offer classes in promotion of the Chinese culture for the love of learning,” Van Buren said.

To celebrate the opening of the Institute, a special Wuhan dance group, comprised of 20 students, will perform during the opening, Daus said. The students will be housed with host families during the opening, and will see a bit of southwest Wisconsin culture.

“They will get a special view of life [here], it will be neat to see,” Van Buren said.

Everyone is invited to the grand opening, Daus said. Ceremonies start at 2:15 p.m. Saturday, April 12, and will take place at the Center for the Arts. This event is free to everyone.

“We are lucky our chancellor is committed to international relations,” Daus said. “We were told not to bother, but the chancellor’s vision made it possible. This is a big cultural step for us. It’s going to be a great adventure.”