Between National Politics and International Intellectual Influences: Development of Nanjing University Chemistry & Physics Departments, 1902-1937, Julia Zhou, UG '24 (2269588)

Close inspection of Nanjing’s University charter and administrative-level official documents reveals the deep, early influences of Japanese education models on the structure of the Physics and Chemistry department’s curriculum — early professors were recruited in large numbers from Japan, and everything from classroom design to architecture took deep influence from Japanese peers. As the century progressed, however, American influences in course instruction began to take precedent. Examination of early annual departmental reports taken from the rarely considered “Overview of NJU’s Science Departments” (Guoli Zhongyang Daxue Li Xueyuan Gaikuang, 國立中央大學理學院概況) help illustrate the increasing Americanization of NJU’s Physics and Chemistry departments.