By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – Webster University will be the site of the latest Confucius Institute in partnership with the People's Republic of China.
The non-profit, pubic institute is meant to promote the understanding of Chinese culture and language. There are 38 Confucius Institutes at universities around the U-S, but none in Missouri.
Dr. Grant Chapman is Webster's associate vice president for academic affairs and director of international programs.
He says the institute will work with businesses and school district that want to teach Chinese.
"The school district who need to have teachers of Chinese in their classrooms K through 12, we can do the training for those teachers to teach Chinese," Chapman said.
The institute will have two instructors provided by the Beijing Language and Culture University and the China National Office of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language.
Webster made the announcement about the Confucius Institute Thursday on the Chinese New Year. It will open in the fall.