International Journalism and Communication Deans Conference (2021) was held at Renmin University of China on November 20 with the theme of " Sharing the future: journalism and communication education and global cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era ". As an annual conference, the topic of this year focused on the future discipline system construction, education reform under the constitution of globalization, personal training of international communication talent, and international exchanges and cooperation. Through global conversation, the conference aims to answer the question of how to adjust and reconstruct journalism and communication education in the post-COVID-19 era.

The opening ceremony of the conference was presided over by Zhang Huifeng, associate dean of the School of Journalism and Communication (SJC) of Renmin University of China.

Hu Baijing, Vice President of Renmin University of China welcomed the deans in his opening speech. He said that exploring global cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era called for close attention to the logical sources and realistic basis of cooperation.

In the welcome speech, Zhou Yong, Executive Dean of SJC stated that with the expectation of "order reconstruction" in the post-COVID-19 era, global cooperation increased its importance. He expressed his hope of building this conference into a platform for information sharing, personnel exchange and scientific research cooperation.

The first section is themed on future-oriented disciplinary system construction. Zhang Taofu, Executive Dean of the School of Journalism of Fudan University, Chen Changfeng, Executive Vice Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, and Sui Yan, Dean of the School of Journalism of Communication University of China, expressed their opinion about discipline construction. They all stressed the importance of public value in journalism and communication education.

Yu Nan, Vice Dean of Nicholson School of Communication and Media, University of Central Florida, and Laramie Taylor, Dean of the Department of Communication at the University of California, Davis introduced the education experience of their schools. They also expressed their wish for further cooperation with Chinese universities.

The second section is themed on educational reform for the new trends of globalisation . Raul Reese, Dean of the School of Communication of Emerson College, and Li Benqian, Dean of the School of Media and Communication of Shanghai Jiaotong University talked about creativity. They noticed that the educational environment has gradually changed from "screen to screen" to "face-to-face" in the post-COVID-19 era, leading to challenges to the faculty recruitment standard, as well as the education systems.

Qiang Yuexin, Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Wuhan University emphasized the importance of journalistic norms and professionalism. As new technology and its application become more and more mature, journalism and communication education should focus on cultivating students' ideas of technical empowerment and technical criticism.

Wei Lu, Dean of the School of Media and International Culture of Zhejiang University, made a speech focusing on "Local Internationalization". He said that to realize "Local Internationalization", we should insist on the combination of short-term and long-term Sino foreign cooperation projects and seek opportunities for scientific research cooperation at home and abroad.

The third section is themed on cultivation of international communication talents as a bridge . Huang Yu, Dean of the School of Communication, Film and Television of Hong Kong Baptist University, and Zhi tingrong, Dean of the school of Journalism and Communication of Jinan University introduced the experience of their schools and their concepts about personal training. They both believed that we need talents with international vision.

Lin Shanshan, Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Singapore Science and Technology University noted how journalists can confront the technology development. Lin mentioned that in the face of a large number of fake news during the pandemic period, journalists should "remain fearless", and exercise their critical thinking ability and bear in mind their social responsibility and social mission.

Zhang Xiaofeng, Executive Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Nanjing Normal University, talked about academic conferences. It is found that the density and number of academic conferences are increasing, but there is still an imbalance in regional distribution and topic distribution. He said that in the future, academic exchanges may need to place more emphasis on collaboration and balance.

The forth section is themed on open and shared international exchanges and cooperation. Zhang Mingxin, Dean of the School of Journalism and Information Communication of Huazhong University of Science and Technology strengthened that cooperation with the world in journalism and communication education is very important.

Jiang Hong, Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Anhui University, Hu Yiqing, Vice Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Nanjing University and Qi Yalin, Executive Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences expressed their ideas in journalism education. They emphasized the importance of the ability to apply media technology and the skills of communication.

Alan Stavytsky, Dean of the School of Journalism of the University of Nevada, mentioned that discipline theory innovation, industrial digital transformation and interdisciplinary intersection are significant when talking about the reconstruction of journalism and communication discipline. He also provided the experience of the University of Nevada.

More than 100 teachers and students attended the meeting.

The International Journalism and Communication Deans Conference of Renmin University of China is an academic brand project of SJC. It has been found in 2016 which invited Deans and vice deans of prestigious journalism schools to attend conversations and discussions annually. To adapt to the changes brought by the COVID-19, this year’s theme focuses on how to reconstruct journalism and communication education. Through this annual meeting, Deans in the world can share their concerns and negotiate answers to the common problem faced by the global journalism education community.

Author:Wu Zhe, Wen Yingying

Photo by:Yang Chen,Wang Daosheng,Zhou Anjian

Editor:Wang Xiayun