Peking University, June 27, 2012: On June 25, nine Stanford University undergraduate students joined with their six counterparts from Peking University and Tsinghua University in Beijing, to jointly attend the Cross Cultural Design for Services (CCDS), a highly-innovative six-week design workshop at Peking University. Along with them were the three course instructors Julie Stanford, Michael Barry and Pamela Hinds from the Design School of Stanford University. As one of the six courses that constitute the Global Educational Exchange (Globex) Program Summer 2012, the start of CCDS marks the official launch of the program.

The Globex Summer Program, spanning from June 25 to August 24, will feature six elaborate courses delivered by professors and researchers from world-class universities, including Stanford University, Peking University, University of Delaware and University of Maryland. Undergraduate students from nine universities around the world will attend the courses at PKU taught by these professors.

"It’s a pioneering 2-way student exchange program initiated by our College,” Professor Pingchou Han, assistant dean of College of Engineering for global education and director of Globex, noted, ”Students from different countries and universities will take classes along with their peers from Peking University and work projects together. I believe it will bring about a fascinating cross-cultural and learning experience for everyone involved.”

The CCDS course aims at teaching design process and applying design thinking to service projects in rural China. This innovative class is consisted of a one-week design thinking workshop in PKU, 5-week design projects in Mianyang, Sichuan Province and a wrap-up session in Beijing. According to Hinds, the fifteen students from three universities will be divided into four teams to work on four design projects assigned by the Mianyang local government.

Edited by: Zhang Jiang
Source: College of Engineering