Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T01:43:21.290Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Building a “Double First-class University” on China's Qing-Zang Plateau: Opportunities, Strategies and Challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2020

Miaoyan Yang Open the ORCID record for Miaoyan Yang [Opens in a new window]  and
James Leibold
Miaoyan Yang*
Affiliation:
Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
James Leibold
Affiliation:
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Email: [email protected].
*
Email: [email protected] (corresponding author).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Situated in the broader context of educational aid for Tibet and higher education reform in China, this article examines efforts to develop higher education in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Based on document analyses, observations and interviews, we interrogate the thoughts and actions of university officials in the TAR when responding to the state's call for the creation of “double first-class” (shuangyiliu 双一流) universities and disciplines. Our study identifies two main strategies adopted by university officials: capitalizing on the plateau's unique geography and China's system of preferential ethnic policies. University administrators hope to use the TAR's unique and strategic location as a springboard for curriculum and research development, while drawing on aid and assistance from the central government and partner universities. We conclude that the future of higher education in the TAR is highly dependent on external assistance and that the region faces an uphill battle in building a truly world-class university.

摘要

摘要

以教育援藏和中国高等教育改革为大背景，本文考察了西藏自治区（简称西藏）发展高等教育的努力。基于官方文件、观察以及访谈材料，我们详细探讨了西藏高校管理者响应国家建设世界一流大学与一流学科（双一流）背后的思考与行动。研究指出了他们的两种策略：充分利用青藏高原的独特地理优势和充分利用国家的少数族群优惠政策。一方面，大学管理者希望借助西藏独一无二的地理优势作为课程和研究发展的跳板。另一方面，他们又依赖中央政府以及对口支援高校的支持与援助。本文认为，在目前格局下，西藏高等教育的未来发展依然高度依赖于外部援助；它走向真正意义上的“世界双一流”是一场艰难之途。

Keywords

higher educationminority educationpreferential policydouble first-class universities (shuangyiliu daxue)Qing-Zang Plateaueducational aid for Tibet高等教育少数族群教育优惠政策双一流大学青藏高原教育援藏
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 244: Change, Contradiction and the State: Higher Education in Greater China , December 2020 , pp. 1140 - 1159
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Althusser, Louis. 1971. Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. New York: Monthly Review Press.Google Scholar
Barnett, Robert. 2009. “The Tibet protests of spring 2008: conflict between the nation and the state.” China Perspectives 3, 6–23.Google Scholar
Chaisse, Julien, and Matsushita, Mitsuo. 2018. “China's Belt and Road Initiative: mapping the world trade normative and strategic implications.” Journal of World Trade 52(1), 163–185.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Melvyn C. 1998. “The Dalai Lama's dilemma.” Foreign Affairs 77(1), 83–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grunfeld, A. Tom. 1996. The Making of Modern Tibet. Armonk, NY: M.E Sharpe.Google Scholar
Guo, Shujian, and Wang, Jianhua. 2017. “Shuangyiliu beijing xia woguo daxue gaocengci rencai yinjin zhengce fenxi” (Analysis of high-level talent recruitment in Chinese universities in the context of shuangyiliu). Xiandai daxue jiaoyu 4, 82–90.Google Scholar
Hayhoe, Ruth, and Bastid, Marianne. 2017. China's Education and the Industrialised World: Studies in Cultural Transfer. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
University, Highland. 2018. “Yiliu xueke jianshe gaoxiao jianshe fang'an” (First-class discipline construction plan). Official document.Google Scholar
Hillman, Ben. 2016. Ethnic Conflict and Protest in Tibet and Xinjiang: Unrest in China's West. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Huang, Futao. 2015. “Building the world-class research universities: a case study of China.” Higher Education 70(2), 203–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jin, Wei. 2010. Xizang yuanzhu yu fazhan (Aid and Development in Tibet). Lhasa: Xizang renmin chubanshe.Google Scholar
Kurlantzick, Joshua. 2007. Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming the World. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Leibold, James. 2013. “Ethnic policy in China: is reform inevitable?” Policy Studies No. 68, East-West Center.Google Scholar
Leibold, James. 2016. “Preferential policies for ethnic minorities in China.” In Xiaowei, Zang (eds.), Handbook on Ethnic Minorities in China. London: Edward Elgar, 165–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leibold, James, and Chen, Yangbin. 2014. Minority Education in China: Balancing Unity with Diversity in an Era of Critical Pluralism. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Ma, Rong. 2014. “Reflections on the debate on China's ethnic policy.” Asian Ethnicity 15(2), 237–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meng, Fan. 2010. “Cong ‘985 gongcheng’ ‘211 gongcheng’ kan woguo shijieyiliu daxue jianshe de jidui maodun” (Contradictions in China's world first class construction based on the evidence of the 985 project and 211 project). Honglongjiang gaojiao yanjiu 189(1), 29–32.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission. 2017. “Guanyu yinfa tongchou shijie yiliu daxue he yiliu xueke jianshe shishi banfa (zanxing)” (Tentative methods for implementation of supervising and promoting world first-class universities and first-class disciplines), http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2017-01/27/content_5163903.htm#allContent. Accessed 10 August 2018.Google Scholar
Odgaard, Liselotte, and Nielsen, Thomas Galasz. 2014. “China's counterinsurgency strategy in Tibet and Xinjiang.” Journal of Contemporary China 23(87), 535–555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Postiglione, Gerard. A. 2015. “Research universities for national rejuvenation and global influence: China's search for a balanced model.” Higher Education 70(2), 235–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qiu, Jane. 2016. “Trouble in Tibet.” Nature 529(7585), 142–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rolland, Nadège. 2017. “China's ‘Belt and Road Initiative’: underwhelming or game-changer?” The Washington Quarterly 40(1), 127–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sautman, Barry. 1998. “Preferential policies for ethnic minorities in China: the case of Xinjiang.” Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 4(1–2), 86–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sautman, Barry. 2002. “Resolving the Tibet question: problems and prospects.” Journal of Contemporary China 11(30), 77–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Song, Jia. 2018. “Creating world-class universities in China: strategies and impacts at a renowned research university.” Higher Education 75(4), 729–742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sperling, Elliot. 2004. “The Tibet–China conflict: history and polemics.” Policy Studies 7, x–66.Google Scholar
Council, State. 2015. “Guowuyuan guanyu yinfa tongchou shijie yiliu daxue he yiliu xueke jianshe zongti fang'an de tongzhi” (The State Council prints, distributes and supervises the overall construction plan for supervising and promoting world first-class universities and first-class disciplines). Beijing. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2015-11/05/content_10269.htm. Accessed 10 July 2018.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Shogo. 2008. “Seeking ‘legitimate’ great power status in post-Cold War international society: China's and Japan's participation in UNPKO.” International Relations 22(1), 45–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Hongcai. 2017. “Shuangyiliu jianshe de neizai luoji shenshi” (The internal logic of building double first-class universities). Henan shifandaxue xuebao (zhexue shehuikexue ban) 44(3), 144–150.Google Scholar
Weber, Max. 1958. “Science as a vocation.” Daedalus 87(1), 111–134.Google Scholar
Xiao, Cheng, and Xie, Weimin. 2014. “Jiaoyu yuan Zang de zhidu jiangou luoji jiqi qishi: yi Xizang gaodeng jiaoyu duikou zhiyuan tixi wei yanjiu duixiang” (The logic and implication of educational support for Tibet: a case study of higher education in Tibet). Yunnan minzu daxue xuebao (zhexue shehuikexue ban) 31(5), 143–149.Google Scholar
Xie, Weimin. 2015. “Zhidu yu xingwei: yuan Zang guocheng zhong de zuzhi yinsu” (Institution and action: organizational elements in the process of educational support for Tibet). Makesizhuyi yu xianshi 5, 153–160.Google Scholar
Xie, Weimin, He, Donghang and Cao, You. 2014. “Yuan Zang zhidu: qiyuan, yanjin he tixi yanjiu” (Aid for Tibet policy: origin, development and system). Minzu yanjiu 2, 14–25.Google Scholar
Yang, Miaoyan. 2017a. “Learning to be safe citizens: state-run boarding schools and the dynamics of Tibetan identity.” Citizenship Studies 21(7), 824–841.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, Miaoyan. 2017b. Learning to Be Tibetan: The Construction of Ethnic Identity at Minzu University of China. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Yang, Miaoyan. 2019. “From dislocated to local: policy implications of ‘educational aid for Tibet’.” Asian Studies Review 43(1), 94–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, Rui, and Welch, Anthony. 2012. “A world-class university in China? The case of Tsinghua.” Higher Education 63(5), 645–666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeh, Emily Ting. 2013. Taming Tibet: Landscape Transformation and the Gift of Chinese Development. New York: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, Weiqun. 2012. “Dui dangqian minzu lingyu wenti de jidian sikao” (Some thoughts on issues related to current ethnic problems). Xuexi shibao, 13 February, http://www.studytimes.com.cn/2012/02/13/01/01_51.htm.Google Scholar