Is Confucianism relevant to students in America in the twenty-first century? Does a 2,500 year old philosophy have anything to offer contemporary society? This paper examines the methodology behind teaching Confucianism and Daoism to students at the University of Texas at El Paso where this course has been taught successfully for the past two years. Using translations of the Daodejing (Roger T. Ames and David Hall) and The Analects of Confucius (Roger T. Ames and Henry Rosemont, Jr.) students are asked to examine and analyze these ancient texts with the intention of determining their relevance to today’s people and culture. Many of the techniques utilized in this course were developed from the teachings of Roger Ames (Peking University and the University of Hawai’i at Manoa), Henry Rosemont, Jr. (Brown University) and Tian Chenshan (Beijing Foreign Studies University) at the first Nishan Confucius Summer Institute in Nishan, Shandong, China in 2011. Pamela Herron was selected to participate in this academic study and has extended these teachings to her university on the Texas/Mexico border. After reading both texts students are asked to apply these teachings to an event or situation in modern society they have researched. Students in the course have drawn connections showing how Confucian or Daoist principles might be of benefit in addressing such diverse issues as environmental degradation, the failure of the American education system, human trafficking, consumerism, mining disasters and much more. Students learn to see the value of the ethics and interconnectedness taught through these ancient texts. In this paper, Herron illustrates techniques proven to be successful in introducing Chinese philosophy to Western students. A particular focus is the attempt to contrast the individualistic linear Western thinking with the more cyclical focus on community and co-relations of Chinese thinking, with the recognition that these principles have influenced Chinese society and culture for 2,500 years. Most students are being exposed for the first time to these texts and way of thinking. They have the ability to comprehend and apply Confucian and Daoist principles and work towards identifying and exploring the relevance within their own daily lives and their goals for the future. In addition they see the scope and relevance of Confucian thought that could be of benefit to all the peoples of the world.