Introduction

Introduction

l  In the fourth round of discipline assessment by the Ministry of Education, Foreign Languages and Literatures in SIS was placed in the A category, ranking among the top 2%-5% and tying for fourth in China.

 Foreign Languages and Literatures ranked third in Shanghai Ranking’s China’s best discipline rankings 2017.

 In the 2018 QS World University Rankings of Linguistics, Zhejiang University ranks among the top 150 universities worldwide.

 SIS faculty boast a good reputation nationwide, with one Cheung Kong Scholar Chair Professor, one Professor of Distinction in Humanities (enjoying the same status as Academicians), one Qiushi Distinguished Scholar of Zhejiang University, one Leading Scholar in Humanities and one Cheung Kong Distinguished Young Scholar Professor.

 SIS boasts brilliant achievements in academic research, ranking among the top universities in China in terms of the number of state-level scientific research programs and publications in international journals.

 SIS aims to cultivate foreign language talents with solid proficiency in their chosen disciplines, excellent humanistic qualities, global competitiveness and leadership potential.

 

The School of International Studies (SIS) Zhejiang University (ZJU) boasts an enduring history dating back to 1928, when its predecessor, the Branch of Foreign Languages at the College of Arts and Sciences, was established. 1999 witnessed the merging of the Department of Foreign Languages (ZJU), the School of Foreign Languages and the Department of College English of Hangzhou University, the Department of Public English of Zhejiang Agricultural University, and the Teaching and Research Section of Foreign Languages of Zhejiang Medical University, into the School of Foreign Languages. This was renamed the School of International Studies in 2003. In recent years, SIS has been strengthening its international reputation and impact. Its primary discipline of Foreign Languages and Literatures was rated A (together with four other universities, namely Heilongjiang University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, and second only to the A+ of Beijing University, Beijing Foreign Studies University and Shanghai International Studies University) in the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) 4th University Evaluation. ZJU ranked 3rd in the 2017 Best Chinese Universities Ranking compiled by Shanghai Ranking, and 150th globally for linguistics in QS World University Rankings 2018. SIS grants doctoral and master’s degree in its primary discipline of foreign languages and literatures. It also has two master’s programs in the disciplines of English translation and education (English teaching) and offers seven undergraduate majors in English, German, Japanese, Russian, French, Spanish and Translation and Interpretation. In addition, SIS offers a post-doctoral training program for the primary discipline of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

SIS currently consists of three Academic Departments: the English Department, the Language and Translation Department, and the Asian and European Languages Department. In addition, it is home to five University-level Institutes: the Foreign Literature Institute, the Institute of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics in Foreign Languages, the Institute of German Studies, the Institute of Translation Studies, and the Institute of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies. SIS also contains three University-level Research Centers: the ZJU Center for Contemporary Chinese Discourse Studies, the ZJU Center for Chinese Translation Studies, and the ZJU Interdisciplinary Research Center for World Literature. In addition, SIS also hosts a number of school-level research platforms, including the Shen Hong Research Group, the Center for Language-Behavior Patterns, the Center for Legal Discourse and Translation, and the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

After 90 years’ development, SIS now has now a large number of teaching experts and researchers. To be specific, the School has 177 faculty and staff members, including 25 full professors, 5 Hundred Talent Program (associate) researchers, 52 associate professors, and 7 senior lecturers. Notable faculty members include, Prof. XU Jun, who is both Cheung Kong Scholar Chair Professor and Professor of Distinction in Humanities of Zhejiang University; Prof. HE Lianzhen, who is a National Teaching Master, a member of the New Century National Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talent Project, a Super Expert in Zhejiang province, and Qiushi Distinguished Scholar of ZJU; Prof. CHENG Gong, who is Leading Scholar in Humanities of the Ten Thousand Project of Zhejiang province and Leading Scholar in Humanities of Zhejiang University; Professors LIU Haitao and WU Yicheng, who are both Qiushi Distinguished Scholars of Zhejiang University; Prof. NIE Zhenzhao, who has been awarded the State Council Special Allowance; and Prof. HAO Tianhu, who is a Cheung Kong Distinguished Young Scholar Professor. In addition, SIS is home to Bi Feiyu, a prestigious writer as Chair Professors. The School also employs nearly 20 foreign teachers from countries including the UK, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, Spain and Italy.  

SIS boasts a large number of College English teachers who have worked at the forefront of public English teaching and who have won the admiration of students. SIS’s National English Teaching Team, led by Professor He Lianzhen, possesses a pioneering spirit, and has won National Teaching Awards several times. The Team has taken the lead nationally, especially in terms of programs of Reform of National Textbooks for College English and Reform of English Proficiency Testing.  

SIS boasts notable research achievements, with research programs ranking among the best in China in terms of quality and quantity. The School won a major MOE project in Humanities and Social Sciences Research and hosted three National Social Sciences Planning Fund key projects. In the past three years, SIS researchers have begun 32 research projects at provincial and ministry levels; have published 132 monographs, translations and textbooks; have published 250 papers in core journals and above; and have won 13 prizes of or above provincial or ministry level for research achievements. In 2017 alone, 10 National Social Sciences Foundation projects, including three key projects, were approved. Per-person paper publication was one the highest in the country. Professor Liu Haitao has been ZJU’s only scholar in Humanities included in Elsevier as highly cited scholar for the last four years (2014-2017). In 2017, professor Liu and his team had 3 papers listed in the ESI top 1% hot papers, and 1 paper included in the ESI top 1% highly cited list. Professor Wu Yichen has published monographs as well as dozens of papers in world-renowned linguistics journals, ranking among one of the most prolific scholars in linguistics nationwide. In recent years, SIS has witnessed significant progress in Scientific and Research Achievement Awards. In 2017, SIS won a total of 5 awards in the 19th Philosophy and Social Sciences Achievement Awards in Zhejiang Province, including the 2 First Awards. Professors Xu Jun, He Lianzhen, Nie Zhenzhao, Liu Haitao, Wu Yichen, Cheng Gong, Cheng Le, and Jiang Jingyang act or have acted as editorial board members for important international journals. Three international journals are edited in SIS. These are the International Journal of Legal Discourse, edited-in-chief by Prof. Cheng Le, and Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature and Forum for World Literature Studies, both edited-in-chief by Prof. Nie Zhenzhao.  

Aspiring to the ZJU motto of “seeking the truth and pursuing innovation” and to the school motto of “pursuing education via a fusion of Chinese and Western studies, and expanding knowledge via an investigation of the natural world”, SIS remains committed to cultivating foreign language talents with deep professional knowledge, excellent humanistic qualities, international competitiveness and leadership potential. It has employed the system of “cultivating talents in three respects comprehensively” and strengthened the building of “four kinds of classrooms”, constantly innovating and as such always reaching greater heights. In September 2015, SIS initiated the Global Engagement Program (GEP). In June 2018, on the occasion of graduation of the first ever GEP students, SIS initiated the special International Organizations and Development minor program, which is open to all students at ZJU and provides more study opportunities for them. In addition, SIS has upgraded the Global Engagement Program and set up a Master’s Program of International Organizations and International Exchanges, striving to cultivate talents for organizations such as the UN and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  

Currently SIS has a total of 1,072 students, comprised of 773 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and 99 candidates for doctoral degrees, with 202 international students. Our graduates boast solid language proficiency, a wide range of knowledge and outstanding professional competence and capabilities, and as such are favored by employers. In terms of employment positions, our graduates mainly work in the fields of culture and education, mass media, foreign exchange, economy and trade, science and technology, public undertakings and government departments. The primary employment rate of our 2016 graduates is 96.32%, while that figure for postgraduates is 98.55%.  

Centering on the goal of “World-class Universities and World-class Disciplines”, SIS has accelerated its course of internationalization. It enjoys extensive exchanges and cooperation with universities in Britain, the US, Germany, France, Japan, Russia, Canada, Denmark and Hong Kong. In 2017, SIS had a total 20 exchange and cooperation programs with universities abroad, including 7 cooperative training programs, namely the 2+2 ZJU-Manchester University Training Program for undergraduates, the 3+1/1+1 ZJU-Southampton University Training Program, the 3+1/4+1/1+1 ZJU-Bath University Training Program, the 3+2 Cooperative Program with the Second-Language Learning Institute of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the 2+2 ZJU-Lyndon State College Training Program for undergraduates, the 1+1 MIT Training Program with City University of Hong Kong, and undergraduate exchange programs with City University of Hong Kong. In addition, SIS has signed framework agreements with the University of Salamanca, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca and Université de Paris 13, and has achieved preliminary cooperation consensus with the University of Iowa, North Carolina State University and Eurasia-Pacific Uninet. A total of 260 people participated in foreign exchange programs in 2017.    

With an ever-improving support system for teaching and research, and advanced hardware facilities, SIS provides a digital network and multimedia foreign language teaching with 1,202 student terminal computers linked to the internet. It has 70 seminar rooms equipped with digital audio, multimedia network and facilities, one classroom for multi-language simultaneous interpretation (SI) , interactive multimedia real-time recording and broadcasting systems, video conference systems, multimedia digital recording and editing equipment, 8 FM foreign language radio channels of Zhejiang University, a closed-circuit system for 5 overseas satellite TV channels and closed-circuit TV systems (in English, Russian, German, Japanese and French), and foreign language audio and video materials totaling over 10,000 hours. SIS has also built various network teaching platforms open to all students, including its independent listening website, foreign language Video On Demand website, classroom real-time service website and professional foreign language teaching website for more than 10 courses. Moreover, in accordance with the research needs of faculty members, SIS has constructed a language recognition laboratory, a translation and localization technology laboratory and other research laboratories. The SIS information center has a large collection of books and academic journals in English, Russian, Japanese, German, French, Spanish and Chinese.

SIS attaches great importance to local cooperation and has taken an active part in improving social services in following national and social development strategies. Since 2006, SIS has undertaken the building and maintenance of foreign versions of Zhejiang Provincial government’s portal website, and decree translation work for the People's Government of Zhejiang Province,. It has also undertaken the translation work of cultural classics such as A Collection of Paintings throughout China’s Past Dynasties, including A Whole Collection of Song Dynasty Paintings and A Whole Collection of Yuan Dynasty Paintings, contributing to the promotion of Chinese culture., It has also contributed to the National Graded Examinations in English Proficiency system and to curriculum standards and teaching guidelines, as part of national education and examination reforms as well as language talent cultivation.    

SIS also includes organizations such as the Center for Continuing Education and Testing Center, which provides testing services in foreign languages and training for national ministries, local Party and government leaders, business managers of Chinese and foreign enterprises, senior professional and technical personnel and overseas travelers. It has trained tens of thousands of people from various units and universities, including the National Bureau of Statistics, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, provincial departments, banking systems, and the organization department of Zhejiang University.

The Centre for Continuing Education offers preparatory course programs for undergraduate and postgraduate students in 11 countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan and South Korea. More details can be found on the website: http://zjuwy.zju.edu.cn.

The Testing Center offers services for Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Business English Certificate (BEC), Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and Public English Test System (PETS) exams. More details can be found on the website: http://www.etest.edu.cn.

 

 (Updated in April, 2018)

 


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Address:No. 866, Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China

Postal Code:310058

Telephone:+86-571-8820-6044 +8

E-mail:wangjiayue@zju.edu.cn

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