Established in September, 2006, the SISU Intercultural Institute (SII) initiates, supports, and coordinates the intercultural research of related disciplines in SISU to increase academic exchanges and cooperation for intercultural communication (IC) projects at home and abroad, as well as provides intercultural education, consulting, and training for schools, companies, and public institutions. In addition to seeking to integrate disciplinary, intellectual, and geographical advantages in the cultivation of international-oriented talents, the SII aims to develop advances in intercultural research, intercultural education, corporate training, and public awareness. Our goal is "Developing a Discipline to Develop People".        

Besides cooperation with each of the six institutes under the direction of the SISU Office of Disciplinary Development (the administrative bureau for the national “211 key universities” development project), the main interdisciplinary partners of SII include the SISU College of English Language and Literature (CELL), the Communication College, the College of International Business (CIB), and the SISU MBA program which focuses on the development of borderless global managers and leaders.
         Undergraduate IC teaching has been continuously conducted since 1998 when Prof. Steve Kulich and Prof. Zhang Hongling started the first Intercultural Communication course in what was then the College of Journalism and Communication, and similar courses are now offered in the College of International Education, College of International Business College of International Law, College of International Relations, as well as in multiple language courses (German, Japanese, etc.)
The first MA IC course was offered as a Graduate School elective (IC Theory & Practice, since 2000) and a fuller complement of courses continue in the College of English (since 2002) and in the College of Journalism and Communication (since 2007). Due to the growing size, quality, and contribution of the courses, IC was established as an independent study direction for English MA candidates in 2005 and Communication MA candidates in 2007. The SII faculty team now offers a curriculum of 8-10 courses and annually advises 15-20 post-graduate IC English majors and 2-4 Intercultural Mass Communication majors. 
         The SII also works closely with the College of International Business and its related SISU MBA program to provide intercultural training for business students, managers, and companies. It also maintains ties with the College of Western Languages, primarily the German Department (where Prof. Wang Zhiqiang offers MA courses in Intercultural Germanistic), Spanish, Russian, French, as well as Japanese majors, and the College of International Relations (School of International Diplomatic Affairs, SIDA), for which SII faculty have served on the editorial board of the international Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies It’s under SISU Institute of Middle-East Studies (in Asia).

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