Seventy years on, RUC Journalism remains in its prime. On November 15, the Forum on the 70th Anniversary of Journalism and Communication Education at Renmin University of China (RUC) and the Global Deans' Forum on Journalism and Communication was held. The event looked back on the 70-year journey of RUC's School of Journalism and Communication and explored the path forward for journalism and communication education at home and abroad.

With the theme of "Global Communication, Understanding and Trust: Future Communication and Society", the forum was attended by Lin Shangli, President of RUC, who delivered an opening speech. Also present were Fang Hanqi, Honorary Level I Professor; Chen Xitian, an alumnus from the class of 1966 and former Editor-in-Chief of Shenzhen Special Zone Daily; Yu Qingtian, an alumnus from the class of 1969 and former Political Commissar of the PLA Ordnance Engineering College; etc. More than 70 deans from journalism and communication schools of renowned universities worldwide, together with over 300 representatives including alumni, faculty, students and media professionals from home and abroad, took part in the event. The opening ceremony was hosted by Zhang Huifeng, Secretary of the Party Committee of RUC's School of Journalism and Communication.

Lin Shangli noted that RUC is the first new-type regular university founded by the Communist Party of China, and its School of Journalism and Communication is the first formal higher education institution for journalism in the People's Republic of China established by the Party. Over the past seven decades, it has fostered generations of outstanding journalists and communicators, demonstrating a strong sense of responsibility to drive social progress through journalism.

Faced with the profound changes in the communication landscape in the information age, Lin expressed hope that the School would embrace the future, the globe and the times, and would continue to be a faithful recorder of the times and an excellent narrator of Chinese stories.

Zhang Taofu, Dean of the School of Journalism at Fudan University; Sui Yan, Dean of the School of Journalism at Communication University of China; and Viktor Barabash, Dean of the Faculty of Philology at Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, delivered speeches as representatives of peer institutions.

Following the thread of "History, Inheritance, Development and Future", the forum unfolded a magnificent picture of the past, present and future of journalism and communication education.

In 1955, An Gang, then Deputy Editor - in - Chief of People's Daily, came to RUC to prepare for the establishment of the Department of Journalism in response to the instructions of the Party Central Committee, opening a brilliant chapter in RUC's journalism and communication education.

At the forum, Zhou Yong, Dean of RUC's School of Journalism and Communication, released two works - An Gang's Journalism Thought and A History of the Development of Journalism and Communication Discipline at RUC. Based on abundant first-hand historical materials, An Gang's Journalism Thought offers the first comprehensive, systematic, in-depth and detailed historical study of An Gang's journalistic ideas and has been included in the Initiative for Constructing an Independent Knowledge System of Chinese Journalism and Communication. Centered on disciplinary development and arranged in chronological order, A History of the Development of Journalism and Communication Discipline at RUC fully reviews the 70-year development course of the discipline at the university, boasting both great historical value and academic depth.

Fang Hanqi, Guo Qingguang, former Dean of RUC's School of Journalism and Communication, Mao Zhanwen, an alumnus from the class of 2015 and current Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Minzu University of China, and Yang Qiguang, an alumnus from the class of 2020 and associate professor at RUC's School of Journalism and Communication, each recounted their own stories related to RUC's journalism and communication education.

Fang Hanqi stated that the founding of RUC's Department of Journalism was a memorable event in the history of Chinese journalism and journalism education. From its very beginning, the department had a comprehensive educational framework. It had a teaching team of over 100 members, including backbones from various fields, and was equipped with teaching and practical facilities such as teaching and research sections and an independent printing house. It has nurtured countless professionals in both journalistic theory and practice and made remarkable contributions to the compilation of teaching materials, establishing itself as a pacesetter in Chinese journalism education. He expressed his expectation that the School would keep striving in teaching, scientific research and practice to achieve even greater success on its existing foundation.

A series of achievements of the School in disciplinary innovation and talent training were released at the forum.

The latest outcomes of the Initiative for Constructing an Independent Knowledge System of Chinese Journalism and Communication were on display. Gong He, Deputy Dean of the School, introduced the innovative achievements in cultivating international communication talents. Zhao Shuguang, another Deputy Dean, launched the Mingxin Large-scale Model 1.0. Zhang Di, Director of the Department of International Journalism and Communication, presented a series of achievements from RUC's Global Public Opinion Research Center.

The Future Communication Innovation Alliance was officially inaugurated at the forum. Aiming to build an open, collaborative and efficient industry-university-research integration platform, the alliance gathers wisdom from academia and strength from the industry to jointly drive innovative breakthroughs in talent cultivation and practice. Focusing on the future communication forms and ecology, it will commit itself to developing high-quality teaching resources, tackling key frontier research projects and constructing supporting facilities. It will provide sustained momentum for cultivating outstanding journalism and communication talents who lead the future and boosting the high-quality development of the industry, and build an innovative community featuring mutual integration and common progress.

Zhou Yong also released the "Ten-Year Disciplinary Development Roadmap towards 2035". In the coming decade, RUC's School of Journalism and Communication will focus on three core goals to build a world-class journalism and communication discipline. It will carry out knowledge innovation and theoretical creation based on Chinese experience, global issues and human perplexities, promoting the development of a Chinese school of journalism and communication with global influence. It will establish a capacity foundation integrating humanity and technology, facilitating the integration of theoretical explanatory power and practical capability, and exploring a new path for humanities and social sciences to demonstrate tangible strength. Facing the future of communication and society, it will strive to become a new global hub for talent cultivation and a cradle of first-class philosophers and social scientists.

In the afternoon, six parallel sub - forums were held simultaneously. Deans and scholars from journalism schools of prestigious universities in China, Russia, the United States, Singapore, Thailand, Egypt and other countries gathered to conduct in-depth discussions. The topics included "Disciplinary Construction of Journalism and Communication for the Future", "Joint Construction by Government Departments and Universities and Cultivation of High-end Practical Talents", "Talent Cultivation Guided by Marxist View of Journalism", "Value Reconstruction of Journalism and Communication Education from an Interdisciplinary Perspective", "Cultivation of International Communication Talents in the Context of New Liberal Arts", and "Pathways and Mechanisms for Empowering Journalism and Communication Discipline with Regional Characteristics". Their insights contributed to the development of the discipline.

As the first formal higher education institution for journalism in the People's Republic of China founded by the Communist Party of China, RUC's School of Journalism and Communication has, after 70 years of dedicated development, grown into a cradle of journalists in New China, a key hub for Marxist journalism research, a cornerstone of journalism and communication education, a pacesetter in reform and innovation of journalism education, and an important platform for global exchanges and cooperation in journalism education. Since 2005, it has successfully held ten sessions of the Global Deans' Forum on Journalism and Communication, building a platform for diverse dialogue and collaborative development in the research of cutting-edge issues in journalism and communication worldwide.

Seventy years of trials and hardships;Seventy years of unbroken academic inheritance.

Passing the torch from generation to generation, we will write a new chapter of glory.

Happy 70th anniversary, RUC Journalism!

Translator & Editor: Liu Yushuo, Wang Xiaopeng