Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History

The USF Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History, College of Arts and Sciences, is a premier global resource for the study of Chinese-Western cultural exchange with a core focus on the social and cultural history of Christianity in China.

The Institute's mission is to:

• approach Chinese-Western interaction in the spirit of friendship and respect exemplified by the Institute's namesake, the 16th century Jesuit, Matteo Ricci;
• produce and promote interdisciplinary academic research in areas ranging from the study of Jesuit interaction with China in the late Ming and Qing periods to religious and secular cross-cultural encounters between China and the West up to and including the modern and contemporary periods;
• carry out our research through publications, visiting scholars and scholarship programs, conferences, and public events;
• provide access to library and archival materials in Chinese and Western languages focused on Jesuit missions to China during the 16th-18th centuries as well as a wide range of materials on the history of cultural interactions between China and the West.