Chinese and Foreign Scholars Gathered in WHU to Discuss the Revitalization of Chinese Rural Culture in the New Era

From November 16 to 18, the "International Conference on Chinese Rural Culture Revitalization in the New Era and the 2019 CharacteristicCultural Industry Forum" was held in our University.

More than 130 experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from Chinese and foreign academic circles, cultural industry and think tank institutions attended the conference. The conference was hosted by Wuhan University and the Communication University of China.

In the keynote speechsessionon Nov. 17,tenexperts and scholars gave academic reports. Feng Tianyu, a senior professor of humanities and social sciences at Wuhan University, gave a lecture on social surveys in the revitalization of rural cultureentitled“Some Thoughts on Social Survey”. From the perspective of comparative research, Zhao Suisheng, a full-time professor at the Joseph Kobel School of International Relations at the University of Denver, USA, shared new developments in China's reform and opening up and Chinese studies in the United States. Professor Bergs, Director of the Center for Culture, History and Heritage Studies at the Liberty University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, delivered a speech entitled “Cultural Heritage and Rural Communities: Challenges of Inclusive Management”. In his speech, Rachel Skagers, an assistant professor of art administration, education and policy of Ohio State University, compared and analyzed American country music and Chinese intangible cultural heritage music.

On the morning of the Nov.18, nine experts and scholars from home and abroad gave keynote speeches. Zhang Longxi, a foreign academician of the Royal Swedish Academy of Humanities, Art and Archaeology and a foreign academician of the European Academy of Sciences, gave a speechtitled“What is a beautiful world”. Professor Qi Xiaoguang, a lifelong member of the University of Cambridge's Wolfson College, shared his team's research process and conclusions on the sustainable development of the World Heritage Site of Hani Rice Terraces in Yunnan. Professor Hu Huilin from Shanghai Jiaotong University delivered a keynote speech entitled “Village Rejuvenation and Rural Governance”, emphasizing the importance of rural cultural revitalization for rural governance.

The convening ofthisacademic conference coincided with the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the National InstituteofCultural DevelopmentinWuhan University. In the past 10 years, the Institute has completed more than 30 national-level scientific research projects and more than 150 provincial-level scientific research projects. It has produced 3 major projects of the National Social Science Fund (Art Science), 1 National Science and Technology Support Project, and 1 National Key Research and Development Project. In the past five years, academic relations have been established with the University of Chicago, Cambridge University, Warwick University, University of Toronto, Victoria University and the Free University of Amsterdam.