Please join us for a special screening and panel discussion of the acclaimed documentary film, Nankai: The Tale of a School (2018), with filmmaker Guang Zu. In six episodes, the first of which will be shown in English, this series is about prestigious Nankai University in China founded by Dr. Chang Poling who studied at Teachers College between 1917-1919. It showcases the strong influence of Teachers College and its faculty members on the development of the university. Filmed in part at Teachers College, Episode One (50 minutes) includes substantial interviews with leading faculty and staff who comment on the rich history. The well-received series was aired in China on CCTV last year.

The film director, Mr. Guang Zu, and a number of TC faculty members, including Dr. Henan Cheng, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of International and Transcultural Studies, are invited to join the panel discussion about the historic ties between Teachers College and educational development in China.

Discussants:

Henry Levin is William H Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education. He is Co-Director of the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education, (www.cbcse.org). He is also the David Jacks Professor of Higher Education and Economics, Emeritus, at Stanford University where he served from 1968-99 after working as an economist at the Brookings Institution in Washington. From 1978-84 he was the Director of the Institute for Research on Educational Finance at Stanford, a federally-funded R. & D. Center. From 1986-2000 Levin served as the Director of the Accelerated Schools Project, a national school reform initiative for accelerating the education of at-risk youngsters encompassing about 1,000 schools in 41 states. He holds a B.S. in Marketing and Economics from New York University and M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Rutgers University.

Portia Williams is Executive Director of the Office of International Affairs. She holds a doctorate in International Educational Development and Policy Studies and an Ed.M in International Family and Community Education from Teachers College Columbia University. She also holds an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.She is an Assistant Professor (Coterminous) in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Henan Cheng is the Associate Director of the Center on Chinese Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has also been an adjunct professor in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College since 2012. Her primary research interests include international and comparative education, educational development and equity issues in China.

This event is co-sponsored by the Teachers College Center on Chinese Education and Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

Be sure to check out the Photographic Exhibition which provides insight into the College's historic involvement in China.