College of Arts & Sciences
Confucius Institute

The University of South Carolina is the first research university in South Carolina to establish a Confucius Institute (CI) in collaboration with the Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) and the Office of Chinese Language Council International, a division of the Chinese Ministry of Education, which has launched more than 260 such institutes in 75 countries since 2004 to promote education about Chinese language, culture and society. The Confucius Institute is expected to strengthen the university's course offerings in Chinese language and culture with the BLCU providing three visiting faculty members, promote more visiting scholars from China, and expand China-related research library collections at the Thomas Cooper Library.