May 11, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
The United States may lead the world in charitable fund raising and philanthropy, but the country’s first Doctor of Philanthropic Studies, who graduated today in Indianapolis, is Chinese.
Yue (Jen) Shang, a native of Beijing, studied for her Ph.D. in Philanthropic Studies at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, where she will soon join the faculty and help teach fund raisers and other nonprofit officials about donor behavior and other topics.
Ms. Shang, who wrote her dissertation to shed light on why donors give, plans to return to China and conduct research on the psychological underpinnings of philanthropy there.
Ms. Shang was joined in the ceremonies by three fellow students who are expected to finish requirements for their philanthropic studies doctorates this summer. Altogether, 31 students have been admitted to the Ph.D. program, which prepares students to teach and conduct research in philanthropy.
Ms. Shang is one of 10 foreign students in the Ph.D. program, which began in 2004. The other students are from China, Taiwan, Ghana, Germany, Japan, Latvia, South Korea, and United Arab Emirates.
Perhaps the philanthropic studies degree will help promote the spread of civil society to other parts of the globe. What do you think?
