First Chair in Chinese at University of Groningen for Oliver Moore

The University of Groningen has appointed British sinologist Oliver Moore to the Chair in Chinese Culture and Language at the Faculty of Arts as of 1 September 2016. Thus, the UG becomes the second Dutch university to offer a programme in Chinese.

Oliver Moore is committed to developing a Bachelor’s programme in Chinese Culture and Language as well as a Chinese-language training programme for lecturers. The Chair will also contribute to the development of the Groningen Confucius Institute (GCI).

Logical step

This is the first time that the UG establishes a Chair in Chinese. The application was made by the Centre for East Asia Studies Groningen (CEASG) and the GCI. ‘It is a logical step for the UG, as East Asia and China are becoming increasingly important in higher education as well as in business’, says Prof. Tjalling Halbertsma, Director of the CEASG. ‘Moreover, the UG has a lot of experience in China, including, for example, the Dutch Studies Centre at Fudan University, Shanghai, the Tsinghua-Groningen Research Center in Beijing, and the development of the branch campus in Yantai.’ The Chair is co-financed by Hanban, the Beijing head office of the Confucius Institute.

Oliver Moore

Oliver Moore is a sinologist educated at SOAS and Cambridge who has worked at Leiden University, Kyoto University, the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden and the British Museum in London. He has researched a variety of topics, including the social history, visual arts and material culture of China. His first book was a study of the first Chinese state examinations entitled: Rituals of Recruitment in Tang China (2004). His publication Photography’s Chinese Metaphors: A History of the First Century of Photography in China will appear later this year. Moore: ‘Things have changed a lot since 1982, when I first went to study Chinese at Fudan (Shanghai), now one of the UG’s partners in a growing East Asian network. But I have never since doubted that knowledge of Chinese language and culture depends crucially on visiting China and talking to whomever is willing to meet. This is why I am delighted to join a university that is so energetically multiplying its presence in China.’

More information

For more information, please contact Tjalling Halbertsma, Director Center for East Asian Studies Groningen. Phone +31 50 3635806, email t.h.f.halbertsma@rug.nl.