Professor Wang Lisong, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages, Invited to Attend the 18th National Advanced Forum for Deans of English-related Programs

From April 10 to 13, Professor Wang Lisong, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Tianjin University, was invited to attend the 18th National Advanced Forum for Deans and Department Chairs of English-related Programs in Qingdao, and Professor Wang delivered his speech as the keynote speaker.

The forum, themed “Transformation and Development of Foreign Language Majors toward 2035,” sought to explore how foreign language programs can better integrate and mutually reinforce their humanistic and instrumental attributes, further build core competitiveness, overcome the constraints of traditional disciplinary thinking, and enable foreign language education to keep pace with digitalization as well as evolving social needs and broader trends of the times.

Professor Wang spoke in the thematic session on “Transformation and Development of Foreign Language Majors at Science and Engineering Universities.” His talk, entitled “GenAI-driven Transformation Pathways for Foreign Language Disciplines: Regional and Country Studies,” took the opportunities and challenges posed by artificial intelligence to the development of foreign language disciplines as a point of departure. Drawing on the interactive relationships among regional and country studies, foreign language and literature, and translation studies, and building on Tianjin University’s experience in developing its regional and country studies discipline, Professor Wang argued that foreign language disciplines should be closely aligned with the development of regional and country studies so as to cultivate interdisciplinary talents with both a global vision and strong cross-disciplinary competence.

In response to the new context in which “the future has already arrived,” the School of Foreign Languages will uphold its future-oriented educational philosophy, stay firmly committed to data and intelligence-driven development, and actively promote the deep integration of GenAI with foreign language disciplines. Taking the development of regional and country studies as a key vehicle, the School of Foreign Languages will advance foreign language education and teaching in a more intelligent and integrated direction, thereby better serving national strategic needs and international communication.