Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History

The research arm of the Center for the Pacific Rim, the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History (RI), is a unique interdisciplinary resource founded by the Society of Jesus in 1984. The mission of the USF Ricci Institute is to promote the study of historical cross-cultural encounters and dialogues between China and the West through cutting-edge research programs, publications, meetings, and other scholarly and educational activities. In the spirit of the famous Jesuit, Matteo Ricci, the USF Institute engages in international ecumenical, collaborative efforts, intellectual exchanges, and scholarship. The USF Ricci Institute also houses a prominent 80,000 volume Chinese library, ranked among the top twenty in North America. Its distinguished internet-based library catalogue is among the very few online catalogues throughout the world that offers combined multi-lingual display and search capacity.