Heather Elgood says those who attend her class at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, include students in their 20s and even 70s.

The older students, she says, are usually bankers and lawyers, who have collected Chinese ceramics for years and want to learn more about them.

Elgood is the course director for postgraduate diploma studies in Asian art at SOAS.

She says her teaching emphasizes two things: the direct touch her students from different parts of the world have with objects of art and the history of such works.

In light of a new cooperation established between her university and the Guardian Education Center in Beijing, Elgood says she hopes her experience and expertise will also benefit Chinese collectors and art lovers.

A subsidiary of the Beijing-based Guardian Group, the education center, along with SOAS and the Art Institute of Chicago, a large US museum, launched the international program in November. The program will offer both short- and long-term courses on art, art history and the market to artists, patrons and buyers, as well for others interested in art.

A small class is expected to have about 20 students.