Following OUC Academic Committee Regulations, the sub-committee of Culture, History, Philosophy and Arts of the Third Academic Committee of the Open University of China (OUC) held its first plenary meeting of the year on 23 November 2021 in order to strengthen its construction and boost development of the majors.
Invited to speak were Gao Jianping, researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, president of the Chinese Society of Aesthetics, and former president of the International Society for Aesthetics, and Liu Chengji, director of the Research Centre for Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education at Beijing Normal University, vice president of the Chinese Society for Aesthetics, and a professor named a “Changjiang Scholar” by the Ministry of Education.
The conference was held both online and offline, with representatives of the Academic Committee of the OUC headquarters attending in person and members of the sub-committee participating online. Jiangxi Open University (OU), as a member of the sub-committee, was an offline venue as well. Members of 20 institutions of higher education outside the OUC system watched online, and Professor Li Song, a member of the OUC Party Committee, OUC vice president, and director of the Third Academic Committee, delivered a speech. The conference was presided over by Professor Han Yi, deputy director of the sub-committee and director of the Department of Quality Monitoring and Control.
Li Song asserted that teaching and research are inseparable. As secretary Jing Degang said, “There is no university without academic affairs.” The OUC Academic Committee shall play a guiding role in bridging the Culture, History, Philosophy and Arts majors and cutting-edge disciplines so as to enhance discipline building, academic evaluation, and research at the OUC. He said that the university will also support the work of the Academic Committee as it strives to contribute to building world-class open universities.
“The Centenary of Marxist Aesthetics in China” was used by Mr. Gao Jianping to portray the development of Marxist aesthetics since the May 4th movement on the basis of three major concepts. He stated that academic research should be made part of the rejuvenation of aesthetics in the “new era.” In line with Marxism, studies of traditional Chinese aesthetics and Western aesthetics should be made to build a reality-based contemporary Chinese aesthetics. Speaking of “The Beautiful Spirit of Chinese Culture”, Professor Liu Chengji spoke of aesthetics and the arts in Chinese culture, and the relationship between traditional aesthetics and philosophy, against the background of building a beautiful China, the position, features, and presentation of beauty in Chinese culture, and the arts and philosophy in China. During the forum, the teachers and students attending online interacted enthusiastically with the two professors.
This Academic Committee consists of 16 members, and the 15 attending reached consensus on future work and the 2022 work plan at the conference. They gave suggestions related to future teaching symposia for young and middle-aged teachers, the topics of teaching forums, course construction, and investigations by the academic commission.
Written by Huang Huize; photos by He Dandan and Huang Huize, OUC