Recently, “Chinese and Western Values – Methodological Reflections on Intercultural Dialogue” was held at the College of Foreign Languages of Nankai University. The lecture was given by Karl-Heinz Pohl, Professor of the University of Trier in Germany and a famous sinologist. Mr. Yan Guodong, Dean of the College of Foreign Languages and the director of the Regional Research Center of Nankai University, presided over the lecture.
At the lecture, Professor Karl-Heinz Pohl started with the concept of “culture” and briefly introduced the cultural iceberg model and cultural dynamic characteristics, which led to the content of cross-cultural dialogue. He believed that intercultural dialogue was an attempt in hermeneutics to understand others with certain methods and limitations. Based on decades of experience in sinology research, Professor Pohl shared his ten points of thoughts with the audience on the methodology of intercultural dialogue, including the factors affecting cross-cultural communication such as the relationship, language, history, ethnocentrism between the two sides of the dialogue and some mistakes in thinking such as similarity traps and universalism. Then, he specifically analyzed the basic content, characteristics, differences and commonalities of Western Christian culture and Chinese Confucian culture, and demonstrated the development process and advantages of intercultural dialogue. Finally, Professor Pohl particularly emphasized the openness and equality of intercultural dialogue, which was conducive to complementing each other's strengths and enriching the human cause.
At the end of the speech, the teachers and students actively asked questions, and had a further understanding of the path of understanding Western culture, the characteristics of Sinology studies in various countries and "Confucianism".
It is reported that Professor Karl-Heinz Pohl has long been committed to Sino-German cultural and academic exchange activities. This time, he participated in the "Taihu Forum" at the invitation of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. After the meeting, he was invited to give a lecture at Nankai University. This exchange activity was hosted by the Regional Research Center of the College of Foreign Languages of Nankai University, which is conducive to enhancing the understanding of teachers and students on overseas Sinology and broadening the thoughts of the students in foreign language learning.
