College of Humanities Hosts Leading Chinese Academics
College of Humanities Hosts Leading Chinese Academics
Five leading academics from Fudan University’s College of Foreign Languages and Literatures visited Exeter from 17-20 October to take part in a second major collaborative research colloquium. The visiting delegation was hosted by Humanities’ Centre for Translating Cultures and participated in the second Modern Foreign Languages Fudan-Exeter Colloquium entitled, ‘Bridging the Globe: Comparing and Contesting Perspectives in Literary, Visual and Digital Cultures.’
The colloquium further developed the burgeoning research links that exist between Fudan and Exeter. Fudan University is one of China’s leading research institutions, currently ranked 43rd in the QS world rankings, and has developed a strong partnership with the College of Humanities in recent years. Following the success of the first Fudan-Exeter colloquium, which took place in Shanghai in 2014, this event provided an opportunity to deepen research cooperation between the two universities.
Professor Lu Li’an, Professor Chen Liang, Professor Duan Feng, Dr Song Yang, and Dr Jiang Linjing all presented their research alongside a host of papers presented by Exeter academics based in English and Modern Languages. The colloquium investigated ways in which literary, visual, and digital artefacts belonging to one time and place are received by new audiences and adapted by new practitioners, across geographical and linguistic frontiers as well as across historical eras.
The visitors also had opportunities to find out more about work being undertaken in the College of Humanities. They enjoyed a visit to view manuscripts held in Exeter’s Special Collections and in the Exeter Cathedral Library, as well as going on a campus tour to view Exeter’s facilities and discussing plans for the development of Exeter’s pioneering Digital Humanities lab.
In addition, the attendees met with Professor Andrew Thorpe (Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean of the College) and other senior staff from English and Modern Languages to discuss potential for future collaborations. The visit concluded with a research mapping exercise, which looked to establish areas of research strength where Exeter and Fudan could work together in future.
Professor Emma Cayley, who led on the organisation of this colloquium, said ‘Dr Corinna Wagner and I were delighted to welcome our Fudan colleagues and demonstrate just some of the ground-breaking humanities research going on at Exeter. This visit will cement our collaboration and take it to the next level.'
Date: 27 October 2016