Ming Chuan University Partners with the University of Oklahoma to Establish MCU-OU Mandarin Teaching and Research Center

Ming Chuan University (MCU) has expanded its overseas Mandarin education network with the opening of the MCU-OU Mandarin Teaching and Research Center, established in partnership with the University of Oklahoma (OU). Officially inaugurated on September 23 in Norman, Oklahoma, the center was supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education through the Taiwan Huayu BEST Program and by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston. Building on their Mandarin teaching exchanges, the two universities have established a physical hub for collaboration, with plans to extend their partnership into engineering, business and management, internships, and emerging technology research.

The opening ceremony took place at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Attendees included Michael R. Markham, Dean of OU’s College of Arts and Sciences; Rebecca Cruise, Associate Provost for Global Engagement; and Nian Liu, Chair of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. MCU representatives included Vice President Dr. Sophia Shi-Huei Ho, U.S. Campus Director Leann Eyerman, and Zihong Qin, Director of the Mandarin Studies and Culture Center. Yvonne Hsiao, Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston, and Rebecca Lan, Director of its Education Division, also attended.

The partnership between MCU and OU dates back to 2018. Since 2022, the Taiwan Huayu BEST Program has provided a more structured framework for exchanges. To date, MCU has welcomed six groups comprising 69 OU scholarship recipients to study Mandarin and experience Taiwanese culture. In 2025, MCU received Ministry of Education approval to establish an overseas Mandarin teaching center at OU. Its official opening marks the evolution of the partnership from student exchanges and language instruction into a long-term overseas educational presence.

Dean Markham emphasized that the center is more than a classroom. Its mission will include strengthening Mandarin learning among OU students, providing professional development for K–12 Mandarin teachers across Oklahoma, offering language and cultural exchanges for the community, and deepening trans-Pacific cooperation between the two universities. Center Director Nian Liu said the center also plans to expand its short-term intensive Mandarin courses and preparatory courses for the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL), with the goal of becoming a major hub for Mandarin education in Oklahoma.

The visit also opened new possibilities for the next phase of collaboration. Following the inauguration, the delegation met with OU’s international office, College of Engineering, and business college on September 24 to discuss student and faculty exchanges, joint research, internships, teacher development, and programs such as the Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative. The discussions also explored joint research in emerging technologies, including drones, extending the partnership beyond Mandarin education and the humanities into engineering, business and management, and technology.

MCU Vice President Dr. Sophia Shi-Huei Ho emphasized that language education is fundamentally about connecting people. When students from Taiwan and the United States interact face to face, language becomes a bridge between cultures and worldviews. Alongside continuing to help U.S. students learn Mandarin and understand Taiwan, the MCU-OU Mandarin Teaching and Research Center will serve as an important platform for deeper educational, research, and interdisciplinary cooperation between the two universities.