On June 18, Nankai University’s Seminar on New Liberal Arts Disciplinary Construction was held through an online meeting. Scholars and experts from Peking University, Renmin University, Nanjing University, Fudan University and Shandong University as well as people in charge of Nankai University’s Zhou Enlai’s School of Government, College of Foreign Languages, College of Tourism and Service Management, and the National Demonstration Center for Experimental Arts Education also made reports. Nankai University’s Vice President Xinsheng Wang and Director of the Department of Higher Education of the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission Zhongfeng Lian attended the meeting, and nearly 2,000 audience members participated in the seminar.

In the speech, Xinsheng Wang recalled the results achieved by Nankai University during the New Liberal Arts Construction and shared his understanding of the Construction from the perspective of the University. He mentioned in particular the Revitalization Plan of Liberal Arts in the “4211 Seeking Excellence Plan”, which is dedicated to  interdisciplinary and innovative research and cultivation and the development of liberal arts in interdisciplinary studies both at home and abroad. He pointed out that the launching conference of the “Six Excellence and One Top-notch” Plan 2.0 held by the Ministry of Education in Tianjin in April last year put forward clear requirements for the construction of new liberal arts in colleges and universities. As an important carrier of advanced socialist culture, the construction of new liberal arts should promote the disciplinary integration of philosophy and social sciences and new the technological revolution, and enhance the soft power of culture. He hoped that the seminar would be able to gather ideas from experts belonging to other universities and integrate their accumulated experience and sharp thinking into Nankai’s practices.

Director of the Department of Higher Education of the Tianjin Municipal Education Commission Zhongfeng Lian emphasized that Nankai University is a renowned university with a long history which has made explorations in many aspects of the construction of new liberal arts and achieved great results. At present, the construction of new liberal arts should be instructed by General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, adapt to the new environment of development, grasp the new historic node, respond to the new needs of society, express the new connotation of the liberal arts, and shoulder the new mission of disciplinary development of liberal arts.

Afterwards, experts and scholars from Peking University, Renmin University, Nanjing University, Fudan University and Shandong University comprehensively analyzed the concept and path of the construction of new liberal arts from different perspectives, and shared their valuable experience combined with the exploration and measures taken by each university in the construction of new liberal arts. People in charge of Nankai University’s Zhou Enlai’s School of Government, College of Foreign Languages, College of Tourism and Service Management, and the National Demonstration Center for Experimental Arts Education also introduced Nankai’s exploration of the talent training mode in different colleges and schools in the construction of new liberal arts, including the disciplinary construction of urban management, compound and internationalized talents training of students majoring in foreign languages, humanities and social sciences, the construction of new liberal arts and the experimental teaching of liberal arts in the context of culture-tourism integration and cultural confidence, research on the relationship among majors in the construction of new liberal arts, etc.

This seminar is also Nankai University’s Undergraduate Education and Innovation Forum (spring, 2020). Since 2019, Nankai University has comprehensively carried out “Nankai University’s First-Class Undergraduate Education Quality Improvement Plan (2019-2021)” (or “Nankai’s 40 Articles” for short), regularly holding Nankai University’s Undergraduate Education and Innovation Forum in order to establish a platform for teacher-teacher and teacher-student exchanges. Through the forum, participants are able to discuss development trends and hot topics of higher education both at home and abroad, share the experience of education and teaching reform, improve the reform and innovation ability of undergraduate education, and promote teachers and students to join in the cultural construction of education and innovation. Up to now, the forum has held 154 sessions in total.

(Reported by Jianjing Yun and Fang Lan, Translated by Yuchen Shi, Edited by Qianye Yang and Daniel Stefan)