Prof. Zhong Zhixiang opens Shenzhen University's “ShenWa Forum”.

introduction：On the evening of January 11, 2022, Prof. Zhong Zhixiang of Information Engineering University gave a lecture entitled “Construction and Talent Cultivation of Regional and Country Studies in Foreign Language Disciplines” for teachers and students of SZU through Tencent Conference, talking about the connotation and positioning of the discipline of country and regional studies, the principles and methods of construction of the discipline system, the objectives and design of teaching system and reform of teaching content of undergraduates practical country and regional talent cultivation. The lecture is a part of Shenzhen University's Regional and Country Studies Program. This lecture is the opening lecture of the “Deep Bay Forum” on regional and country studies of Shenzhen University.

On the evening of January 11, 2022, the “Deep Bay Forum” on Regional and Country Studies of Shenzhen University was grandly opened, and Professor Zhong Zhixiang of Information Engineering University gave the first lecture through Tencent Conference, entitled “Construction and Talent Cultivation of Regional and Country Studies in Foreign Languages Disciplines”. Professor Zhong Zhixiang of Information Engineering University gave the first lecture through Tencent Conference, entitled “Regional and Country Studies Discipline Construction and Talent Cultivation of Foreign Language Disciplines”, which aroused strong reaction among teachers and students. “Deep Bay Forum” is personally planned by the leadership of SZU and organized by the School of Foreign Languages, aiming to strengthen the academic research on regional and country studies and cultivate international complex talents. The forum was hosted by Prof. Dai Yonghong, Director of China Overseas Interests Research Center.

Prof. Zhang Xiaohong, Vice President of SZU, firstly made an opening speech. She borrowed the traditional Chinese philosophical phrase “potential”, pointing out that the “Deep Bay Forum” is to follow the trend, to take advantage of the trend and progress, to create a trend and rise, to take advantage of the trend: “Deep Bay Forum”, a regional country-specific This high-end academic activity of regional country studies is to follow the trend of national strategic development, which allows China to understand the world and the world to understand China better; it is to take advantage of the trend of Shenzhen's “dual-region” geographical development to continue the story of Shenzhen's reform and opening-up, and to write China's new era of “Great Liberal Arts” and “New Liberal Arts”. It is to take advantage of the momentum of the geographic development of Shenzhen's “dual-region” to continue the story of Shenzhen's reform and opening-up, and write a wonderful chapter of China's new era of “Great Liberal Arts” and “New Liberal Arts”; it is to build on the momentum of SZU's disciplinary development to integrate the academic resources of the whole university on the basis of the existing Guangdong Provincial and Shenzhen Liberal Arts Key Research Bases, and to push forward the innovation-driven and coordinated development of the international composite disciplines; and it is to take advantage of the trend of outstanding scholars from home and abroad, and to invite authoritative experts, such as Prof. Zhong Zhixiang, to bring academic enlightenment to the regional The country studies will bring academic enlightenment.

Prof. Zhong Zhixiang then opened the lecture. Prof. Zhong is a member of the Foreign Language Discipline Review Group of the Seventh and Eighth Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, a member of the Teaching Steering Committee for Foreign Language and Literature in Colleges and Universities of the Ministry of Education (2007-present), the vice-chairman of the Sub-committee on Teaching Steering for Non-Generic Languages, the head of the Expert Group of Foreign Language Disciplines of Information Engineering University, the chief expert of Foreign Language Disciplines, and the director of the Center for Country and Regional Studies.

Prof. Zhong began with the disciplinary connotation and disciplinary orientation of country and regional studies. He pointed out that country and regional studies is an interdisciplinary study of politics, economy, history and culture, but in general it is the study of foreign issues. In its disciplinary positioning, we should focus on the disciplining of country and regional studies and the nationalization of disciplinary studies, the former referring to the process of scientifically and systematically classifying and building the fragmented and scattered knowledge related to a specific country or region, while the latter referring to the major categories of humanities and social sciences to do nationalized and regionalized studies. In order to establish a country and regional research system, the foreign language discipline should take the foreign language as the perspective and starting point, transform and cut down the theories of history, political science and other humanities and social sciences, and gradually build its own independent theoretical system and methodological system.

According to Professor Zhong, the two most important principles for the construction of the discipline system of country and regional studies are scientific research and talent cultivation, and the construction of its systematization, systematization and scientificization should be oriented to talent cultivation. Since the implementation of the “Belt and Road” initiative, a large number of Chinese enterprises and capitals have gone overseas, and the country needs a large number of talents who are proficient in the languages of the relevant countries, understand their finance, laws, customs and even consumer psychology and habits, and also have business and sales capabilities. With such a demand for talents, it is necessary to develop teaching and research from the perspectives of anthropology, ethnology, geography, language and literature, history and sociology, and economics, in order to cultivate the composite talents needed by the country.

How to determine the goals of national and regional talent training? Through the experience of his Information Engineering University (whose foreign language discipline was formerly known as Luoyang PLA Foreign Language College), Prof. Zhong pointed out that while the construction of think tanks and the cultivation of research talents are important, the cultivation of professional master's degree and undergraduate talents is more practical and better meets the country's demand for applied talents. In the process of undergraduate talent cultivation, it is necessary to take foreign language as the basis, combine the knowledge structure with practical professional skills to form a composite system, and cultivate talents who are proficient in foreign languages, familiar with foreign countries and cultures, have an interdisciplinary knowledge structure, adapt to foreign exchanges, and have an international outlook, especially those who love the motherland and have a Chinese stance.

When talking about the design of the teaching system for undergraduate practical country-region talents, Prof. Zhong took the Burmese language major he was engaged in and the “foreign language +” special courses of Guangxi University for Nationalities as examples, and demonstrated the curriculum system consisting of basic language tools courses, professional core courses, general education courses, etc., and clearly outlined the path of cultivating talents based on the cultivation of generalists and specialists based on the cultivation of foreign languages, with a combination of talents. It clearly outlines the path of talent cultivation based on foreign language as generalist+specialist cultivation. Finally, Prof. Zhong pointed out that it is necessary to reform the teaching content of undergraduate country regions on the basis of the existing curriculum, to link language and cultural practices, so as to make the perfect combination of language acquisition, cultural acquisition and country knowledge, and to cultivate students' ability of discernment, scientific research and innovation by letting them take the initiative to collect learning materials and prepare classroom presentations, as well as through the writing of scientific research theses and social internships, so as to realize the goals of nurturing and The objective of the program is to cultivate human and moral integrity.

After the lecture, Prof. Zhong also answered questions from SZU faculty and students on how small languages can transform country and regional studies, how country and regional studies can integrate with other disciplines, and how foreign languages can empower international communication to enhance China's soft power.