Cui Hongjian was invited to talk about European research and European situation at the Region and Country Research Center in Nankai University

发布者:王泽璞发布时间:2018-05-21浏览次数:260

On May 9th, the College of Foreign Languages held two academic activities of the Region and Country Research Center of Nankai University, including a teacher forum with the theme “theory, practical significance and methods of European studies” and an academic lecture with the theme “Current European Situation and China-EU Relations”. Professor Cui Hongjian, Director of the European Research Institute of China Institute of International Studies, was the speaker of both activities.

The teacher forum was chaired by Professor Yan Guodong , Dean of the College of Foreign Languages and Director of the Region and Country Research Center at Nankai University. At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Cui briefly introduced the establishment and development of the China Institute of International Studies. He introduced the topic with the concept of “nation-state” and represented the nation-state theory, international relations theory, institutional innovation theory and integration theory in terms of theoretical significance. He pointed out that the current theoretical research lagged behind the actual situation since European integration had undergone obvious changes in recent years.Then he briefly reviewed the political and economic changes in Europe and China-EU relations in recent years. He took Europe as an example, stressing that region and country studies should take into account both country and regional studies, and that research should be problem-oriented, study the characteristics of other regions and countries which were related to the development of the country.

After the lecture , Professor Cui addressed the issues of the teachers present, and further answered the questions about the direction of specific research topics, China’s diplomatic partnership, ways of conducting European academic research in China, and the scientific research strengths and inadequacies of foreign language professionals, providing professional advice and guidance for them.

After the teacher forum was over, Professor Cui gave Nankai students an academic lecture on the topic of Current European Situation and China-EU Relations , which was hosted by Associate Professor Du Weihua, Director of the German Department  at the College of Foreign Languages. During the lecture, Professor Cui started with the changes in Europe over the past decade, involving the European debt crisis, terrorist attacks, refugee issues, the Brexit, and other important events, and  explained the current political and economic situation in Europe, the relationship between France and Germany, and the attitudes of European citizens.Then he confirmed the impact of Europe on contemporary China after introducing the historical situation of China-EU relations, and analyzed the favorable conditions and unfavorable factors for the development of China-EU relations.

After the speech, the students of the College of Foreign Languages and the School of Economics actively exchanged ideas with Professor Cui on European economy, populism and other issues, and  they had a better understanding of the status quo in Europe.

It is reported that in order to respond to the country's call for “strengthening region and country studies” and promote the transformation of foreign language majors, the College of Foreign Languages established the Region and Country Research Center in 2016. In October, 2017, the Center was recognized as the key base for university’s  humanity and social science research in Tianjin. Professor Cui's  exchange activities are conducive to opening up teachers’ ideas for region and country studies in Europe and deepening students’ understanding of Europe.