Princeton's study abroad program in China was recently forced to modify several of its teaching materials after receiving allegations that the texts portrayed the communist host country in an unfairly negative light.
Although Princeton Professor of East Asian studies C.P. Chou, the leader of the study abroad program in China, said that Beijing Normal University has asked him to revise materials in previous years following an annual review process, this year's response was especially caustic, according to Chou, because it was aimed at several specific passages and ideas.
Dartmouth -- even though the College's Chinese Foreign Study Program takes place at BNU, the same university that has hosted and attacked the Princeton materials -- has not had a problem with its host countries.
According to Dean of Off-Campus Programs Peter Armstrong, none of the College's study abroad program materials have been criticized by their respective host countries.
"I can't recall ever having had a problem," he said.
Chou told The Dartmouth he felt the most recent censures were a direct result of an essay written by a Chinese academic entitled "Infiltrating American Ideology into Chinese Language Teaching," which attacked the way in which American study programs such as Princeton's present language materials to foreign students.
Chou, however, defended the language texts, most of which he had written himself, on the basis that the allegations were groundless.
"I don't agree with them. I think [the materials are] an honest reflection of the daily life -- you have to reflect something, right?"
Certain sections of the textbook point to what Chou identifies as tangible problems in contemporary China, such as e-mail's effect on free speech, the "swindling" of foreign tourists, the hazards of pedestrian travel and the lack of toilet paper in many public bathrooms.
But despite growing censorship pressure, Chou said that he has never considered discontinuing the program.
"I think it's important to keep this channel open," he said, citing the importance of abroad experiences at the college level.
Chou also said that it was not his responsibility as a professor to mold his students' opinions about the country.
"I think it's very important that a language program is not a program for ideology reform or thought reform," he explained. "If American students think of China as a paradise, that's fine, if as a hell that's also their choice. It's not my concern."
Chou also defended his content decisions by pointing out that his choices were appropriate to the objectives of the materials.
"As a textbook writer, I believe it's important to make the text as fun as possible, as interesting as possible and also as controversial as possible," he said, adding that controversial materials can better catalyze student discussion, an integral part of foreign language education.
Rather than complying directly with censorship requests, Chou attempted to look for creative ways to address the conflict.
"Usually I do not accept their revisions, but I will write a new book instead," he explained. "I guess it's a matter of intellectual integrity."
Although the curriculum of Dartmouth's FSP "does touch upon contemporary China for sure," according to Mowry, the College has never been reproached for its own presentation of materials.
Mowry cited the focus on more advanced studies of the College's study abroad option as a possible reason for Dartmouth's immunity to Chinese censorship.
"Our program is totally different from the Princeton program. Their program is a 'Language Study Abroad' program, to use a Dartmouth term," she pointed out.
"We have our own textbooks that are compiled in collaboration with BNU," she explained, adding that the proposed texts are not subjected to an annual BNU review, as are Princeton's.
She also cited the relative youth of the Princeton program as another explanation for difference in treatment, pointing out that the Dartmouth professors in the nearly 20-year-old FSP have enjoyed a more prolonged interaction with BNU, allowing them to establish a "very good working relationship" as well as a "mutual trust."
