Famous scholar Daya Thussu, Chair Professor of Schwarzman Scholars, the founder and editor-in-chief of Global Media and Communication, was invited to School of Journalism and Communication, Renmin University of China, for a series of lectures and academic exchanges from Mar. 4 to 11.

Centering on the relationship between globalization and international communication, Professor Thussu elaborated on various topics, including the significance of international communication infrastructures, the trend of global media mergers and the history and latest developments of international communication theories.

He said that the current globalization is in essence westernization, or to be more specific, Americanization.Media Companies resort to combinations and produce prodigious amount of entertaining information in response to the competitive market-oriented media industry.Although that the emerging media market represented by the BRIC countries has risen, U.S. is still in dominance in the industry, leading to information homogenization in other countries.Compared to its solid economic strength, the development of China’s international communication is far from enough.

Professor Thussu also listened to the presentations of nearly 10 PhD students’ research projects, praised their creativity and gave his comments and suggestions in the last lecture.

Professor Zhong Xin, who presided over the event, said that Professor Thussu’s lectures contained key points and focuses in international communication studies, providing meaningful references.

Professor Zhang Huifeng, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, expressed his gratitude to Professor Thussu and invited him to revisit. Professor Thussu expressed that he hoped to keep in touch with Chinese scholars, especially young ones.

Doctoral student Zhu Xi said that the lectures presented a complete picture of international communication studies and included much information that were not familiar to them before, also feeling that there’s still a lot to learn. 

The series of lectures was a part of the “School’s Featured Project of International Professors’ Exchanges”, attracting guest speakers from both the academia and the industry.

Editor/TianTian Xiang