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Dr. Theodore Hsi-en Chen (1902-1991): Chinese American Education Pioneer and Founder of East Asian Studies at USC

Scholarship

** We may need to rewrite this introductory text. Dr. Chen was a leading scholar in the study of Chinese education and communism during the Cold War in the United States. His research and archival materials about communist education were instrumental in shaping the understanding of the People’s Republic of China during the cold war. He advised numerous master’s theses and doctoral dissertations during his tenure. In addition, Dr. Chen had served as the Principal Investigator for a number of government-sponsored studies on Communist China.

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1. Elementary Chinese Reader and Grammar 國語讀本 Dr. Chen and his wife Wen-Hui Chung Chen wrote Elementary Chinese Reader and Grammar 國語讀本 in dedication to their two American-born daughters, Ching (Helen) and Ying. It was used as a textbook in the Chinese class at USC in the 1940s. According to the preface, “The first three editions of this text were produced by the Mimeograph Office of the University of Southern California in two separate volumes for the use of [Dr. Chen’s] class on campus. … it is now made available for public use” (iii). This book, though used for “elementary” level, includes extensive comparisons between Chinese and American history, culture, and society--comparable to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) advanced-mid to advanced-high level of Chinese language competence.
3. East Asian Studies at USC Under Dr. Chen’s influential leadership, Asian studies at USC experienced rapid growth during the 1960s and 1970s, with increased budgets and enrollment, as well as enhanced curriculum, programs, and events. In addition, he received several grants (including $180,000 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1963) to promote Chinese and Japanese language courses in high schools in the greater Los Angeles Area.

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