In 2025, the PhD program in Chinese-Foreign Cultural Exchange Studies was newly established at the School of Foreign Studies (SFS), Nankai University. The program will start to admit doctoral students in 2027. This is a secondary-discipline doctoral program independently established under the Nankai University first-level discipline of Foreign Languages and Literatures. It is also the first doctoral program in China named “Chinese-Foreign Cultural Exchange Studies.”
In October 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued important instructions on publicity, ideological and cultural work. He explicitly called for “strengthening international communication capacity and promoting mutual learning among civilizations.” This statement aimed to bring Chinese culture to the world and pointed the way for the discipline of foreign languages and literatures to serve national strategy. Telling China’s stories and making China’s voice heard requires solid language ability. It also requires deep understanding of other countries’ historical memory, cultural traditions and ways of thinking. The establishment of the doctoral program is a key move by Nankai foreign language studies to meet the needs of the times and serve the national strategy.
The new doctoral program focuses on mutual learning among Chinese and foreign civilizations. It builds on the teaching and research base of nine languages at SFS: English, Russian, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Arabic. It gives priority to five areas: Sino-Russian cultural exchange studies; Sino-European cultural exchange studies; Sino-US cultural exchange studies; Sino-Japanese cultural exchange studies; Sino-Latin American cultural exchange studies. The program conducts systematic research on language dissemination, interpretation of classics, intellectual interaction, cultural images and mutual perception between civilizations. It aims to cultivate high-level talent with strong language ability, broad international vision and rigorous academic training.
SFS has strong faculty and deep academic foundation in Chinese-Foreign Cultural Exchange Studies. More than 30 faculty members at SFS now hold senior professional titles and work on related research. In the past five years, SFS faculty carried out studies on mutual learning among civilizations in depth. They undertook more than 30 projects, including Major Projects of the National Social Science Fund, Key Projects, and Special Projects for Rare and Endangered Studies. These achievements laid a solid foundation for building the “Chinese-Foreign Cultural Exchange Studies” doctoral program.
Looking ahead, SFS will take the construction of the “Chinese-Foreign Cultural Exchange Studies” doctoral program as an opportunity. It will further leverage its strengths in multiple languages, multiple regions and interdisciplinary integration. SFS will contribute Nankai strength to Sino-foreign civilizational mutual learning and the international communication of Chinese culture in the new era.
