Count China as part of the Art Center College of Design’s push to expand options for its students through partnerships with other institutions.

The recent spring semester saw the college launch its first full-term collaboration with a university in China: the Tongji University College of Design and Innovation in Shanghai.

According to Penny Herscowitch, one of two associate professors at Art Center College heading up the Tongji Shanghai collaboration, 10 Art Center students came over from Pasadena for a 14-week program at Tongji, starting with a two-week field trip to look at design work by traditional Chinese craftspeople.

The program recently concluded with the students putting their design work on display at a design pavilion at Tongji University’s World Innovation and Entrepreneurship Expo, which runs through September in Shanghai.

Herscowitch said Art Center students previously had come over on an individual basis to study at Tongji as exchange students. And Art Center students have also found careers at companies in China, including at Beijing-based mobile phone manufacturer and marketer Xiaomi Inc. Art Center has a leg up with Xiaomi. One of the company’s cofounders – De Liu – has a master’s degree from the school.

“We realized that the future of a lot of [Art Center students’] careers as designers will be cross-border and international, so that’s one reason we decided to formalize this partnership,” Herscowitch said.

Also, she said, the Chinese design market has changed. “It’s a reimagining of ‘Made in China’ to also mean innovated and developed in China.”

– Howard Fine