1:25 p.m., April 10, 2009----The University of Delaware has formed ties with an increasing number of universities and institutions worldwide. Most recently, three representatives from Tsinghua University in Beijing -- Wang Guixiang, professor of architectural history; Liu Chang, associate professor of architecture; and Luo Deyin, associate professor of architectural history and vernacular architecture -- visited the UD campus.

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They were hosted by the Center for International Studies, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Art History, the Department of Art Conservation, the Center for Historic Architecture and Design, and the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture.

“Tsinghua is one of China's most prestigious and outstanding universities. It has long established ties with Harvard, MIT, UPenn and other major U.S. institutions,” said Nina Kallmyer, chairperson of the Department of Art History.

The University of Delaware signed a general agreement for collaborative initiatives with Tsinghua last year, according to Lesa Griffiths, director of the Center for International Studies. The visit from faculty members of Tsinghua's School of Architecture was to explore specific opportunities for collaborative initiatives on the history of art and architecture.

Griffiths organized the visit, with help from Vimalin Rujivacharakul, an assistant professor of art history, who initiated the UD-Tsinghua collaborative project on the history of art and architecture. From 2001-02, Rujivacharakul was a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University's School of Architecture where she met several faculty members, including Wang, Liu and Luo. In addition, she leads the international Yingzao Huikan Translation Project with colleagues from Tsinghua, translating bulletins for the Society for Research in Chinese Architecture into English.

The Tsinghua delegation met with faculty members and students in the Department of Art History, the Department of Art Conservation, the Center for Material Culture Studies, the Center for Historic Architecture and Design, and the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture.

“While touring the programs for art conservation and material culture at the Winterthur Museum, the delegation became interested in exploring the possibility of creating their own conservation department for material culture. We are hoping that our UD graduate students will have opportunities to work with Tsinghua University faculty and students to assess preservation of mural paintings in situ, and that a Chinese student could be prepared to apply to our art conservation program in the near future,” said Vicki Cassman, assistant professor of art conservation, who gave the delegates a tour of Winterthur, together with J. Ritchie Garrison, professor and director of the Winterthur Program of American Material Culture.

The Tsinghua delegates also met extensively with art history faculty to discuss possible research partnerships; one of the delegates, Luo, stayed for two additional weeks attending classes in the department and other relevant units. Luo also gave a public talk on Chinese vernacular architecture, hosted by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, the Department of Art History and the East Asian Studies Program, with Jianguo Chen, associate professor of foreign languages, helping translate the talk from Chinese to English.

The delegates also attended presentations by faculty and students of the Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD). “They were keenly interested in our research on Maryland's historic tobacco barns, our use of geographic information systems in studies of Underground Railroad routes, and how CHAD incorporates materials science in our Laboratory for Analysis of Cultural Materials,” said Chandra Reedy, CHAD professor and laboratory director. CHAD faculty and graduate student Xu Ying led the delegation on a daytrip to historic New Castle, where they toured both the meticulously restored Read House and Gardens and a house currently undergoing restoration.

In addition to attending lectures and classes, visiting museums and meeting with faculty, the guests were honored by a welcome reception with UD President Patrick Harker, hosted by the Center for International Studies, in Old College, featuring music by UD violinist and assistant professor of music, Xiang Gao.

At the farewell dinner hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences, Wang, head of the Tsinghua delegation, expressed his strong enthusiasm for the collaborative initiatives. “I believe that our collaboration will be successful,” Wang wrote in an e-mail correspondence after returning to Beijing.

Article by Sue Moncure

Photo by George Freeman