The Center for Area Studies of Nankai University’s College of Foreign Languages was established in 2016. Among its members, it includes more than 60 teachers from the College’s ten departments and the Public English Teaching Department. In October 2017, the Center was recognized as a Key Research Base for Humanities and Social Sciences by Tianjin municipality.

Relying on the multilingual and multidisciplinary advantages of the College of Foreign Languages, the Centerfor Area Studies aims at meeting the growing needs of the country in the field of Area Studies. It cooperates closely with Zhou Enlai School of Government, History College, School of Law, APEC Study Center, Institute of Japanese Studies, Institute of American History and Culture, Europe Research Center, Asia Research Center, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Greek Studies, Center for Silk Road Studies and other research centers. By engaging in comprehensive research on target countries and regions, the main goal of the Center for Area Studies is to increasingly enrich the connotation of foreign languages and literature, cultivate new types of academic growth and opportunity, and improve foreign language professionals’ level of training. It also strives to help the construction of Nankai University’s first-class disciplines and provides policy consultation services for Tianjin’s process of reform and opening up.

Currently, the main research topics of the Center include:

l  American politics and left-wing culture, American middle-class studies;

l  Russian sinology, Russian studies in China, Tianjin modern society in Russian literature;

l  Japanese culture, China-Japan cultural relations, China-Japan relations;

l  translation of the archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs related to China-France historic relations, China-France cultural relations;

l  German politics and society, German education, Chinese students in Germany;

l  Spanish culture, Portuguese Culture, Latin American sinology;

l  Italian society and politics, China-Italy cultural relations.

The director of the center is professor Yan Guodong; the deputy directors are associate professor Hao Yunzhi and associate professor Yang Lin; the secretaries are associate professor Gong Yunjie and dr. He Mengying.