Global Education Forum held to mark the 85th Anniversary of RUC

World Alliance of Universities in Humanities and Social Sciences 2022 Annual Conference and Global Higher Education Administrators Forum was held on Sep 30, marking the 85th anniversary of Renmin University of China. Global scholars, educators, and social activists voiced their insights under the theme of "Cultural Communication and the Development of Civilization."

As a joint organizer, School of Journalism and Communication of Renmin University of China invited five famous scholars from universities in the United States, Germany, Russia and Tsinghua University and Renmin University of China to attend the forum.

Elena Vartanova, the director of Faculty of Journalism in Moscow State University, gave a speech on the theme of "BRICS Media System: The History and Trends of China and Russia", providing a new perspective for the comparative studies of the two countries’ media systems, which she said is important in the era of globalization and multi-polarization, because it helps us better understand the similarities between the two countries and also create new business models related to the media system. In addition, she said that BRICS countries should protect national intellectual property rights and provide open online platforms to realize the digital transformation of traditional media in the face of digital trend of social development, instead of simply relying on global policies or industries dominated by Western countries.

With the theme of "From Cultural Diversity to Communication Diversity", Professor Zhou Qing’an, Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, explained the significance of cultural diversity in today's world from the perspective of communication diversity. In the 21st century, he said, there is contemporary anxiety about cultural diversity. To study cultural diversity from the perspective of communication, we need to rethink some problems and phenomena such as the construction of identity in the contemporary world by cultural diversity, the equal rights in the communication environment, the diversified value systems brought by cultural diversity, and debates about the use of cultural diversity in behavior legitimization. He believed that a world that is “re-safe” in communication is the core of the challenge to cultural diversity today. When all discourse becomes safe discourse, the dialogue of civilization changes from pursuing lofty modernity to defending Maslow's needs at the bottom. In this regard, he said that the diversity of communication should be used to achieve cultural diversity. The diversity of communication is the technical confirmation of cultural diversity, and we can find the harmony between cultural diversity and modernity in this technical confirmation, so as to reshape a community with a shared future for mankind.

Professor Yang Baojun, School of Journalism, Renmin University of China, delivered a speech on the theme of "Civilized Exchanges in a civilized Way". He said that although mankind in the 21st century is on the road of peace and development on the whole, at the same time, it is facing profound changes unseen in a century. The relations between man and nature, between man and man, between nations, and between civilizations are all facing unprecedented tensions. Exploring how different civilizations get along is the key to resolving these conflicts. Although different countries and different people have entered the stage of civilization to varying degrees, the exchanges between different civilizations are far from reaching the “civilized”level, and even remain in a rather barbaric stage. He stressed the need to be highly vigilant against civilized savagery and savage civilization; civilized communication is the proper way for inter-civilization communication, which takes the lowest cost but turns out to be the most beautiful and effective one. Only when different civilizations act with a civilized consciousness and in a civilized way can they build a global civilization.

Peter Perdue, professor of history at Yale University and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, talked about how China engaged with imperial countries in the 20th century under the theme "The Qing Dynasty in the 20th Century World: Cooperation and Conflict". His discussion includedChina's conflicts to defend itself against the invasion and plunder of Western capitalist countries, and its use of the international law to support the Boxer Rebellion in reclaiming its economic sovereignty and its active participation in the world's cooperation fighting against international drug trade. He said that the invasion of Western powers in the early 20th century strengthened the conflict between China and other imperialist countries, and that China slowly began to realize the importance of salvation and began to learn from the West.In the last decade of the Qing Dynasty, officials also recognized the powerful influence of global trends , thus they took the initiative to follow them. The reason that led to China's eventual rise to power was precisely its efforts to integrate with global trends andconditions.

Wolfgang Kubin,renowned sinologist and tenured professor at the University of Bonn, spoke on the theme of "Asia's vine shadow reflected in the blue waves of the Rhine: the need to move towards dialogue. Taking German philosophy as a starting point, he emphasized the importance of openness and understanding for cultural exchange. He said that the development of a nation is related to two issues: translation and understanding. Translation contributes to mutual understanding and knowledge transfer between cultures, while openness and perspective are keys to dialogue and the meeting of ideas between nations. However, he also noted that all understanding and comprehension is more a process than a result, which can provide a possibility for cultural communication; from another point of view, interchange and understanding between different cultures does not always lead to the right answers.

Finally, Zhou Yong, Executive Dean of the School of Journalism of Renmin University of China, made a concluding speech. He said that in the history of human development, obstacles to mutual communications have always existed, which explained the purpose of the forum -- to pursue interaction and understanding among different civilizations and explore the possibility of deeper communication. However, the organization of this forum is only a beginning, he hoped that there will be more opportunities and platforms to realize the exchanges among civilizations and achieve more cultural harmony in recognition of the principle of diversity.

Serving as one of the important events of the university anniversary, the forum promotes experts and scholars from all over the world to have an in-depth discussion on the theme of cultural communication and civilization development. Meanwhile, as a cross-cultural platform, the forum not only provides opportunities for scholars from different cultural and academic backgrounds to exchange the latest academic achievements, but also offers more possibilities for social cooperation in the field of humanities and social sciences.

Translator:Zhao Wenzhen; Song Siyi; Zheng Keyi

Editor:Lan Zishan; Yuan Jiabei; Zheng Shuyi; Zhou Minhua