On April 23-25, 2021, CFLC hosted the 15th National Symposium on Russian Language and Culture. The symposium was jointly organized by China’s Russian Society of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (RSEECA) and the Russian Language Teaching and Learning Steering Subcommittee under the Ministry of Education (MOE). Themed on “Tradition, Integration and Application: Russian Language and Culture Research in the Context of New Liberal Arts”, the symposium explored new trends, ideas and methods in Russian language and culture research amid the development of new liberal arts. The symposium was held online and offline simultaneously, attracting more than 150 experts and academics in the field of Russian language and culture teaching and research from nearly 100 universities across China.
Renowned academics in the field of Russian language and culture research in China who attended the symposium and delivered keynote speeches included: Prof. Liu Hong, President of Dalian University of Foreign Languages; Prof. Ning Qi, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Peking University; Prof. Wang Mingyu, former Vice President of Tianjin Foreign Studies University; Peng Wenzhao, Secretary-General of the RSEECA and Dean of the School of Russian Language and Literature at Dalian University of Foreign Languages; Prof. Yang Ke, Dean of the School of Western Languages and Cultures at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies; Prof. Liu Juan, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Beijing Normal University; Prof. Zhao Aiguo of Soochow University; Prof. Chu Min of Peking University; and Prof. Li Xiangdong of Beijing Foreign Studies University.
In the morning, the opening ceremony took place at XMU Science and Art Center. Quan Hai, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission at XMU, delivered a speech. Chen Zhiwei, Secretary of CFLC’s Party Committee, and Chen Jing, Dean of CFLC, attended the opening ceremony. Xu Qi, Vice Dean of CFLC, acted as the host of the opening ceremony.
Xu Qi, Vice Dean of CFLC, hosts the opening ceremony
On behalf of XMU, Deputy Party Secretary Quan Hai extended a warm welcome to the participating experts and academics. He stated that General Secretary Xi Jinping, in his congratulatory letter to XMU on its 100th anniversary, fully affirmed the positive efforts made by XMU for the prosperity of the nation, the wellbeing of the people and the dissemination of Chinese culture at home and abroad. He added that General Secretary Xi Jinping encouraged XMU to sustain the fundamental task of cultivating talent through virtue, nurture talent for the Party and the country and build a world-class university. He stated that it was significant for the experts and academics to gather at XMU to discuss the study of the Russian language and culture in the context of new liberal arts, as the symposium was important for promoting the reform of higher foreign language education and had far-reaching implications for the cultivation of Russian language talent in the new era.
Quan Hai, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission at XMU, delivers opening remarks at the symposium
Prof Ning Qi of Peking University, who is also President of RSEECA’s Russian Language Teaching and Research Society, said in her speech that language and culture influence each other, and that language is the carrier of culture, while culture has ethnic and national characteristics. She added that the study of language and culture is an important way to foster foreign language talent and to promote cultural exchange. She also stated that the symposium was an important milestone in the development of Russian language teaching in China and marked a new step in the study of Russian language and culture in China. Finally, she expressed her appreciation to XMU for hosting the event and wished the symposium a great success.
Ning Qi, President of RSEECA’s Russian Language Teaching and Research Society, delivers a speech at the symposium
Ms. Brunova, Secretary General of the International Federation of Russian Language Teachers, sent a congratulatory video to the symposium. She said that cosmopolitanism is an essential attribute of Russian literature, and that there are a large number of researchers and learners of the Russian language and culture, as well as outstanding literary translators, in China. She added that she was confident that the symposium would make a new contribution to the teaching and research of the Russian language and culture in China.
Mr. Brunova Secretary General of the International Federation of Teachers of Russian Language, delivers a speech by video link
In the keynote presentation session of the symposium, nine leading experts and academics shared their insights into the Russian language and culture. The first presentation was given by Prof. Wang Mingyu, former Vice President of Tianjin Foreign Studies University and Director of the Institute of Translation and Intercultural Communication. His presentation, titled “Interdisciplinary Research and New Liberal Arts”, focused on the concept, model and development of “interdisciplinary research” and “new liberal arts”. Prof. Liu Hong, President of Dalian University of Foreign Languages and Chairwoman of the MOE Russian Language Teaching Steering Subcommittee, gave a presentation titled “Interdisciplinary Research in Language and Culture: Two Paths of Cultural Concepts”. By studying the cultural concepts reflected in literary texts and political discourse, President Liu Hong extended the interdisciplinary study of linguistic culture to the fields of literature and politics, revealing the laws of cultural concepts influenced by writers’ works in the process of formation and the co-variation between cultural concepts and statemen’s philosophy of governance. His presentation shed light on the interdisciplinary nature of the interpretive power of linguistic culture. Prof. Ning Qi, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Peking University and President of RSEECA’s Russian Language Teaching and Research Society, shared her insights into the “humanistic development of Russian majors in the context of the new liberal arts”. She emphasized that the current construction of the new liberal arts focuses on the cultivation of talent and the innovation of the knowledge system. In the training of Russian majors in universities, apart from the specific knowledge of the Russian language, students need to develop cultural development supported by humanities education, especially the in-depth study and understanding of Russian culture and traditional Chinese culture, so as to help students enhance their cross-cultural thinking, quality and ability.
Prof. Liu Hong, President of Dalian University of Foreign Languages and Chairwoman of the MOE Russian Language Teaching Steering, gives a presentation.
Keynote presentations by experts
In the afternoon, the symposium participants were divided into five groups, each focused on a specific topic: Russian Language and Culture Studies, Teaching Russian Language and Culture, Interdisciplinary Integration Studies, Russian Literature and Culture Studies, and Applied Linguistic and Cultural Studies of the Russian Language. In each group, participants presented their research results and insights, and had in-depth discussions and exchanges with the reviewers and the audience.
Group discussions
After a full day of presentations and discussions, the symposium closed in the evening at CFLC’s Lecture Hall 112. Prof. Xu Hong, Vice President of the China Association for Russian Language Studies, said in his closing speech that the symposium was well planned, efficiently organized, and the participants benefited tremendously from it.
On the morning of the 25th, CFLC hosted the first plenary meeting of the Russian Language Teaching and Learning Steering Subcommittee in 2021. The meeting was presided over by the subcommittee’s director, Prof. Liu Hong. The subcommittee’s secretary general, Prof. Peng Wenzhao, made a summary of the work of the subcommittee in 2020. The members of the subcommittee had a lively discussion on the new concept, direction, ideas and initiatives for Russian language teaching in Chinese universities in the new era. They also expressed their confidence and determination for the high-quality development of the teaching of the Russian language in Chinese universities.
The plenary session of the MOE Russian Language Teaching and Learning Steering Subcommittee
General Secretary Xi Jinping states, “Friendship of nations lies in people-to-people relations, while people-to-people relations lie in heart-to-heart communication.” Language and culture are the bridges that connect people’s hearts and enable people to make friends with one another. The symposium was a major milestone in the development of Russian language teaching in China, allowing the Russian language community in China to deepen and expand the field of the Russian language and culture, strengthen theoretical and methodological research in the discipline, and explore new theoretical and methodological approaches to serve the “Belt and Road Initiative.
