Many  parallel histories came together in developing an interest and focus at  SISU that established the foundations of intercultural teaching and  research. Awareness of the need for teaching and studying culture and  developing intercultural approaches to teaching and research were noted  early by distinguished professors like Dai Weidong, He Jiaoxiong, Wang  Dechun, Hu Shuzhong, Zhang Yonghua and others. This converged with  national developments in the field arising out of the “culture interest”  of the late-80’s and early 90’s to the development of intercultural  textbooks and the first international conferences by the mid 1990s by  proponents like Hu Wenzhong, He Daokuan, Guan Shijie, Jia Yuxin, Gao  Yihong, Lin Dajin and many others.

            Concurrently  Steve Kulich began his tenure in 1993 at SISU teaching in what was then  called the “Overseas Study-Abroad Scholars Preparatory Department”  (Later to become the Overseas Training Center, OTC). With over 10 years  of Asian experience and a MA in intercultural communication, he quickly  realized that scholars going abroad and state-run company employees  dealing with international business needed more that CET 4 or CET 6  language proficiency, and worked with Prep. Dept. leaders to teach an  intercultural communication orientation course to advanced level  students in 1994.

            In  developing IC materials and experiential methods relevant and useful to  Chinese students, Kulich’s work attracted the attention of Zhang  Hongling who was finishing her dissertation (1999) on incorporating IC  into foreign language teaching, of Fan Zheng, who was teaching a course  on intercultural applications in international business, of Wang Enming  who was focusing on research on American culture and others on campus  thinking about developing culture studies. Prof. Zhang Zuxin, then dean  of the CJC, andZhang Hongling  invited Kulich to teach a course to Communication major undergraduates  in 1999, and concurrently host a seminar for several post-graduates and  young faculty, among them Zhu Ye.

            Response  from the first several courses were so positive that Feng Qinghua, then  Dean of the Graduate School, invited Prof. Kulich to offer an elective  course to all post-graduates in 2000. With attendance of over 80 each  year and high student evaluations, Dean Feng, President Dai, and Foreign  Affairs Office Director Sun Xinwei created a teaching position in the  Graduate School for Prof. Kulich to focus his teaching on developing IC,  and the major was first offered to MA students in the “Culture”  direction of the College of English in 2002 (“the cultures of native  English speaking countries). Kulich developed three courses, and in his  first term, seven students signed up to work under him as their thesis  advisor, among them Chi Ruobing. Enrollments continued to grow such that  IC was made an independent direction in 2005. How these steps affected  the development of an institute is covered in the continuing essay.