Our University Was Elected as the Council Member

of China Alliance for Area and Country Studies

From November 1 to 2, the 7th Annual Conference of the China Alliance for Area and Country Studies was successfully held at the Pingfeng Campus of Zhejiang University of Technology. Under the theme "Practical, Empirical, and Applied Area and Country Studies", the Conference brought together over 700 experts and scholars from more than 200 universities across China to explore interdisciplinary innovation and new pathways for talent cultivation. The delegation comprising Dai Jiangwen, Director of the Department of English, Professor Feng Lei, Deputy Director , and Professor He Li attended the Conference upon invitation. Following a vote by the Alliance's "Three Committees", Professor He Li was successfully elected as a council member.

As a vital supporting force for the University's humanities and social sciences, the School of Languages and Communication Studies has consistently prioritized Area and Country Studies as one of its core disciplinary development directions. Leveraging the strong foundation in foreign language teaching and research within the Department of English, the School has gradually established a distinctive development model characterized by "Language + Area Studies + Interdisciplinary Integration". In recent years, the School has continuously optimized its curriculum system, offering elective courses related to Area and Country Studies, forming interdisciplinary research teams, and focusing on key areas such as the languages and cultures of countries along the Belt and Road Initiative and on international communication. These efforts have yielded several high-quality research outcomes and cultivated a group of interdisciplinary talents proficient in both foreign language application and area research. The participation in the Conference represents an important initiative by the School to actively engage with national trends in Area and Country Studies development and deepen inter-university academic exchanges.

The Annual Conference was co-organized by the Secretariat of the Ministry of Education for Country and Area Studies, the China Alliance for Area and Country Studies, and Zhejiang University of Technology. It featured invited reports, plenary speeches, five roundtable forums, and sixteen parallel sessions. The conference facilitated in-depth discussions on key topics including how area studies can advance the implementation of the the Global Initiatives, support corporate global expansion, foster innovation in international communication, and enhance undergraduate program development. The delegation of our University participated deeply in all agendas and engaged in extensive exchanges with experts and scholars from various institutions on issues including disciplinary system construction, standards for cultivating inter-disciplinary talents, and interdisciplinary research methods.

The successful entry into the Alliance and election as a Council member not only recognize the University's achievements in Area and Country Studies development but also establish a higher-level platform for inter-university collaboration and academic exchange for the School. Moving forward, the School will seize this opportunity to further integrate the University's strengths in engineering disciplines with its humanities and social sciences resources, enhance research collaboration and teaching cooperation with other Alliance members, and actively participate in the formulation of discipline construction and talent cultivation standards within the Alliance. These efforts will inject stronger momentum into serving the national strategy of opening-up and enhancing the University's core competitiveness in the field of humanities and social sciences.