Visiting Chinese students visit New Salem
Students learn about Abraham Lincoln visiting historic sites

 

[November 14, 2019] 

Eight visiting Chinese students and their host, Professor Bing Wang, from Shenyang Jianzhu University received a special tour of Lincoln’s New Salem Historic Site on Saturday. Hosted by Guy Fraker, an Abraham Lincoln author from Bloomington, and Amy Budinger, Executive Manager of the Abraham Lincoln Association, the students enjoyed learning about the extraordinary site and exhibits.

The students are part of an international exchange program at Lincoln College. The program provides an immersive experience for Chinese students interested in studying in the United States. The eight students arrived to campus in August from Shenyang Jianzhu University in China.

“The exchange program is a great asset for Lincoln College, but also has tremendous benefits for Lincoln and its surrounding communities as we build ties with a premier educational institution in the world’s second largest economy,” Lincoln College President Dr. David Gerlach said. “Our ties to Abraham Lincoln, a figure who is revered in China, as well as our location in the agricultural center of the nation with ready access to state government, manufacturing and the ag industry, offers visiting students opportunities that are unavailable elsewhere.”

The purpose of the trip to New Salem continued Lincoln College’s ongoing efforts to immerse the new Chinese students into the life and history of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s New Salem Historic Site features special events, music festivals, and candlelight tours through the village where Abraham Lincoln lived as a young man. The students particularly enjoyed the costumed characters recreating the history from 150 years ago.

The students are currently enrolled in Lincoln College history courses on the life of Lincoln and the Civil War. Additionally, they viewed Lincoln documentaries and Hollywood movies about Lincoln in preparation for the tour. Later this month, the visiting Chinese students will tour the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, Lincoln’s Tomb, and the Old State Capital.

[Lauren Grenlund
Director of Public Relations
Lincoln College]