Institutions of Global History

Institutions of Global History Research

In 2014 Beijing Foreign Studies University 北京外国语大学 (BFSU) established the Institute for Global History 全球史研究院 whose founding and current director is Li Xuetao 李雪涛. Other founding members were, among others, the medical historian Alfons Labisch 腊碧士 (member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina), and the archeologist Borhy László 薄慕往 (member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences).

The Institute’s research focus is the interaction between world history since the Age of Great Discoveries in the 16th century and China. Understanding the interacting subjects as true subjects of their own, it refutes any form of centrism, be it Eurocentrism or Sinocentrism (a position that is central in the works of Li Xuetao). Admitting that globalization began in the 16th century and brought forth integration on a regional and global scale to bid farewell to the long-standing separation of world history and Chinese history and instead analyze the interaction between China and the world, in terms of perspective, methods, and topics. To do so, multilingual competence is emphasized in teaching and research, as well as in translating academic articles and scholarly works, especially non-English publications.

The Institute has established a number of databases that allow insights into the mobility of ideas, concepts, and persons as part of its research agenda on knowledge transfer (知识迁移), among them the Database on the History of Chinese Students Abroad 中国留学生数据库, the Research Platform of Modern Conceptual History 东亚近代新词译词研究平台 (in cooperation with Kansai University), and the Global Chinese Studies Online 全球中国研究文献资源平台. The latter provides an overview of the status of research in Chinese studies outside of China, listing more than 5,000 Western language monographs with translated titles.

Since 2010 the Institute has published the English-language Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia.

Further information on the Institute for Global History and the attached School of History 历史学院 at BFSU can be found in a contribution by Zi Wang, „The School of History and the Institute for Global History, Beijing Foreign Studies University“ Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia 12, no. 1 (2021): 79-83. https://doi.org/10.1515/jciea-2021-2005

Formally established by Fudan University in 1925 the Department of History 史学系 was renamed the Department of History and Geography 史地学系 between 1938 and 1949. Since the 1950s a number of known Chinese world historians, such as Zhou Gucheng 周谷城 (1898-1996) (Ph.D. thesis: The Political Ideas of Turgot, University of Chicago, 1927), Zhang Xun 章巽 (1914-1994) or Tian Rukang 田汝康 (1916-2006) (Ph.D. thesis: Religious cults and social structure of the Shan states of the Yunnan-Burma frontier, University of London, 1948), have taught and researched at the department.

Over the years, it has established a number of research units and centers, like the research unit on Chinese historical geography 中国历史地理研究室 in 1959, the research unit on Latin American history in 1964, the research unit for Chinese intellectual and cultural history in 1978, the Center for the Study of Modernisation 中外现代化进程研究中心 in 2000, and the Center for the International Study of the History of Shanghai in 2010. Since 2015 Huang Yang 黄洋 (Ph.D. thesis: The emergence of private land ownership in Ancient Greece, University of London, 1991) has been the director of the department.

The department´s research and teaching can roughly be divided into four categories: Ancient Chinese history, modern Chinese history, world history, and specialized histories. Within the domain of world history, the department states it is “especially strong in ancient history, early modern British history, American history, Modern European intellectual history, Korean and Japanese history, and the theory of history and Western historiography.” [1] It has further named internationalization as one of the top priorities, as the increasing number of publications in English and other languages details.

Researchers specializing in global history at the world history section are, among others, Zhu Lianbi 朱联璧 (Ph.D. thesis: National Holidays and Minority Festivals in Canadian Nation-building, University of Sheffield, 2012) and Jodie Yuzhou Sun 孙遇洲 (Ph.D. thesis: Brotherly strangers: historicising and disaggregating Kenya and Zambia’s relations with China (1961-2000), Oxford University, 2019), as well as Zhou Bing 周兵 (Ph.D. thesis: A Study of the New Cultural History in the West, Fudan University, 2005), Wu Xiaoqun 吴晓群 (Ph.D. thesis: Research on Ceremonial Culture in Ancient Greece 古代希腊仪式文化研究, Fudan University, 1998). In the section on specialized histories, influential scholars with international research expertise who shaped the Department significantly in the past decades are Ge Zhaoguang 葛兆光 (Chinese intellectual history, Director of National Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Fudan University from 2007 to 2013), Gao Xi 高晞 (medical history), and Zhang Qing 章清 (Sino-Western cultural exchange, history of modern scientific disciplines in China).

[1] “History, Department of”, Fudan University, accessed October 11, 2021,  https://www.fudan.edu.cn/en/2019/0513/c295a96634/page.htm.

 

The School of History 历史学院 at Capital Normal University 首都师范大学 was founded in 1954 as the Department of History with Qi Guogan 戚国淦 (1918-2010) as its first director. Other founding members include Qi Shirong 齐世荣 (1926-2015) and Ning Ke 宁可 (1928-2014). In 2007 the Department was renamed the School of History, whose current director is Liu Yi 刘屹 (Ph.D. thesis “Revering Heaven and Worshipping the Tao: One Intellectual Background of Taoism forming in the Medieval Era 敬天与崇道-中古道教开的思想史背景之一”, Capital Normal University, 2000, supervised by Ning Ke and Hao Chunwen 郝春文).

Today, the School of History consists of the Departments of (Chinese) History, Archaeology and Museology, World History, and Cultural Heritage, as well as the History Museum and a number of historical research institutes. Within the Department of World History, the research focus lies on the ancient and medieval history of the world, modern world history, history of international relations, and global history.

One of the research centers hosted by the School of History is the Global History Center 全球史研究中心 that was established at the initiative of Professor Liu Xincheng 刘 新成 (Ph.D. 1991, Beijing Normal University) in 2004. The center defines its goals as “exploring cross-cultural, transnational, and transregional themes from a global interactive perspective or situating Chinese history in a more comprehensive world history framework”[1]. Accordingly, the Global History Center invites historians from all over the world, like Prof. Jerry H. Bentley (1949-2012) (University of Hawaii) and Dominic Sachsenmaier (University of Göttingen), as guest professors, and it hosted the World History Association Conference in 2011. The Center’s current managing director is Liu Wenming 刘文明 (Ph.D. 1999, Fudan University, 1999). The center further publishes the Global History Review 全球史评论, an academic journal, the leading periodical on global history in China since 2008.

Further research centers of the School of History include, among others, the Center for Research on Regionalized Civilizations 文明区划硏究中心 – which has started publishing the journal Southeast European Studies 巴尔干研究 in 2020 –, the Center for Research on the History of International Relations 国际关系史研究中心 – which publishes the journal Research on the History of Modern International Relations 近现代国际关系史研究–, the Center for Comparative Research on Ancient Chinese and Latin American Civilization 中国与拉丁美洲古代文明比较研究中心, the Center for Research on Western Classical Civilization 西方古典文明研究中心, and the Center for Research on the European Medieval and Early Modern Periods 欧洲中世纪与近代早期研究中心.

There are several world historians with a research interest in global history researching and teaching at the School of History, all of which also work for the Global History Center. These are Xia Jiguo 夏继果 (Ph.D. thesis “A Study of English Foreign Policy in the Period of Elizabeth I 伊丽莎白一世时期英格兰外交政策研究,” Capital Normal University, 1996, supervised by Qi Guogan 戚国淦), Liang Zhanjun 梁占军 (Ph.D. thesis “Anglo-French relations in the shadow of Nazi Germany 纳粹德国阴影下的英法关系,” Capital Normal University, 1998, supervised by Qi Shirong 齐世荣), as well as younger scholars such as Chen Zhijian 陈志坚 (Ph.D. thesis “A Conflict Between Feeling and Reason——A Study of British Property Inheritance 1200-1800 情与理的交锋——英国财产继承1200-1800,” Capital Normal University, 2007, supervised by Liu Xincheng), and Jiang Mei 江湄 (Ph.D., Capital Normal University, 1997, supervised by Qu Lindong 瞿林东).

[1] “Introduction”, Global History Center of Capital Normal University, accessed on December 15, 2021, https://ghc.cnu.edu.cn/english/Aboutus/index.htm

In 1902, Beijing Normal University (BNU)—today one of the leading Chinese universities—established the discipline of history in 1902 at a time when it still was part of the Imperial University of Peking. From 1912 onwards history was taught in the Department of History and Geography until both disciplines were separated in 1928. In 1952, the History Department at Beijing Normal University merged with the one at Fu Jen Catholic University.

In 2006, it was then renamed the School of History at Beijing Normal University 北京师范大学历史学院, whose current director is Zhang Hao 张皓 (Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University, 1997). Famous scholars teaching and researching at the department were Li Dazhao 李大钊 (1889-1927), Qian Xuantong 钱玄同 (1887-1939), Deng Zhicheng 邓之诚 (1887-1960), Wang Tongling 王桐龄 (1878-1953) and Fang Guoyu 方国瑜 (1903-1983), as well as Zhu Xizu 朱希祖 (1879-1944), Zhang Xinglang 张星烺 (1888-1951), Chen Yuan 陈垣 (1880-1971), Hou Wailu 侯外庐 (1903-1987) and Bai Shouyi 白寿彝 (1909-2003).

Today, the School of History comprises six sections of historical research and teaching, namely world history, ancient Chinese history, modern Chinese history, historical philology, archaeology, and museology. In the section on world history, research fields are, among others, the history of ancient Greece and Rome, the history of Western history, the comparison of ancient history between China and foreign countries, the history of medieval Europe, the history of modern western thought, the history of modern international relations, as well as the histories of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia and Japan.

One of the research centers of the School of History is the Center for Study of Historical Theory & Historiography 史学理论与史学史研究中心, established in 2000. Since 2010, it is headed by Yang Gongle 杨共乐. The center further publishes the Journal of Historiography 史学史研究, a key journal in historical sciences founded by Bai Shouyi in 1961 (the current editor-in-chief is Zheng Shiqu 郑师渠, Ph.D. thesis “National Essence, Chinese Studies, National Spirit: A Study on the Cultural Thought of the National Essence School in the Late Qing Dynasty國粹, 國學, 國魂: 晚清國粹派文化思想研究”, Beijing Normal University, 1991). Next to this center, the school is home to the Research Center for Modern and Contemporary World History 世界近现代史研究中心, the Research Center for Ancient World History 世界古代史研究中心, and the Teaching-Research Section for Specialized Histories专门史教研室.

At present, well-known world historians at the School of History are Liu Jiahe 刘家和, the current director of the Research Center for Ancient World History and executive director of the Beijing History Society, Li Xing 李兴 (Ph.D. from Graduate School of CASS, 1996) who specializes in the history of international relations and the relationship between great powers, as well as Zhang Jianhua 张建华 (Ph.D. from Graduate School of CASS, 1995), an expert for the history of Russian thought, culture and diplomacy who is the director of the Research Center for Modern and Contemporary World History.

In 1951 Great China University and Kwang Hua University merged to form East China Normal University华东师范大学. The Department of History at East China Normal University华东师范大学历史学系, then headed by Wu Ze 吴泽(1913-2005), was established in the same year. Famous historians that have taught and researched there include Lü Simian 呂思勉 (1884-1957), Li Pingxin 李平心 (1907-1966), Dai Jiaxiang 戴家祥 (1906-1998), Lin Judai 林举岱 (1913-1980), Chen Xulu 陈旭麓 (1918-1988) and Wang Yangchong 王养冲 (1907-2008), as well as Guo Shengming 郭圣铭 (1915-2006) and Xia Gongyuan 夏东元 (1920-2015). The university was part of both Project 211 and Project 985 and currently is included in the Double First Class University Plan.

Currently, the department is headed by Huang Aimei黄爱梅 (Ph.D. thesis: “A monarch’s power: A Study of central power in the Western Zhou Dynasty王权：西周中央权力研究,” East China Normal University, 1999), Qu Jun 瞿骏 (Ph.D. thesis “The 1911 Revolution and Urban Public Space: A Study Centered on Shanghai (1911-1913)辛亥革命与城市公共空间——以上海为中心的研究（1911—1913）,” East China Normal University, 2007, supervised by Xu Jilin许纪霖) and Liang Zhi 梁志 (Ph.D. thesis: ” Political Anti-Communist and Economic „Takeoff“-A Study of U.S. Policy toward Korea from 1945 to 1968 政治反共与经济“起飞”—1945-1968年美国对韩国政策研究,” Nankai University, 2006, supervised by Wang Xiaode王晓德).

The department consists of one section for Chinese history and one for world history, the latter is further split into the three sections of periodic world history, national and local history, and specialized history, especially international history of the Cold War. The department also has a number of well-known scholars in the fields of the history of relations between China and neighboring countries, African history, German history, and comparison of international history education. On its website, the Department further emphasizes its focus on international education.

Journals published by the Department of History at East China Normal University are History Research and Teaching 历史教学问题, established in 1957, and Forum of Intellectuals 知识分子论丛, established in 2003, as well as the journal Cold War International History Studies 冷战国际史研究, established in 2004. The latter is published by the Center for Cold War International Studies 冷战国际史研究中心headed by the famous Cold War historian Shen Zhihua沈志华. According to reports on the website, it is the first and only academic institution in China to focus on Cold War history and has also created the only research database on the history of the Cold War in China. Other research centers founded by the Department of History include the Research Center for Chinese Studies Abroad 海外中国学研究中心, the Research Centre for Contemporary Chinese History 中国当代史研究中心, and the Center for Local History and Memory 民间记忆与地方文献研究中心.

Among the historians currently researching and teaching at the Department of History, only Zhu Ming 朱明 (Ph.D. Nanjing University, 2010) has explicitly named global history as one of these research interests. Other scholars that have published on global history are, for instance, Meng Zhongjie 孟钟捷 (Ph.D. thesis: “Milestones in the Evolution of Industrial Relations in Germany: A Study of the History of the Enterprise Representative Council Act of 1920 德国劳资关系演进中的里程碑：1920年《企业代表会法》的发生史研究,” East China Normal University, 2006) and Tong Xin 童欣, who specializes on Sino-German relations in the Cold War era, with a focus on economic history.

The research center can be traced back to the Research Section for Japanese History, American History, and Latin American History at the Department of History, which was founded in 1964 by Wu Tingqiu 吴廷璆 (1910-2003), Yang Shengmao 杨生茂 (1917-2010) and Liang Zhuosheng 梁卓生. Led by Yu Xinying 俞辛焞, Hong Guoqi 洪国起, and Zhang Youlun 张友伦, it evolved into the Japan Institute南开大学日本研究院 (founded in 1988), the Center for Latin American Studies 拉丁美洲研究中心 (1993), and the Institute of American History & Culture 美国历史与文化研究中心 (2000). On the basis of these three institutes and the Department of World History 世界史学系, Nankai University established in 1999 the Research Center for the History of Modern World 世界近现代史研究中心. Its first director was Wang Xiaode 王晓德, since 2006 it is headed by Yang Dongliang 杨栋梁 (Ph.D., Nankai University,1992). In 2004, the Center was formally approved as a key research center for social science and humanity research in China by the Ministry of Education

As stated on the university website, the aim of the center “is to play a leading role in modern world history research in China and to have a mutually rewarding collaborative relationship with international institutions and scholars in the field of modern world history.” For this reason, it has developed close ties to institutes and scholars from various universities such as Yale, Cambridge, Tokyo, Waseda, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The center furthermore edited and published eighteen volumes of the annual journal Studies of Modern World History《世界近现代史研究》in the course of 18 years.

Due to the center’s strong ties to the Japan Institute, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Institute of American History & Culture, it has numerous scholars with research interests in these fields. Experts on Japanese history include, among others, Liu Yuebing 刘岳兵 (Ph.D. thesis “Research on Japanese Modern Confucianist Thought in (1868-1945) 日本近代儒学思想研究（1868-1945）,” Graduate School of CASS, 2001, supervised by Fang Keli 方克立; currently the dean of Japan Research Institute) and Li Zhuo 李卓 (Ph.D., Nankai University, 1997). Researchers with a focus on Latin American history are, for instance, Wang Ping 王萍 (Ph.D., Nankai University, 2002) and Han Qi 韩琦 (Ph.D. thesis “Transnational Corporations and Mexico’s economic development (1940s to the early 1980s) 跨国公司与墨西哥的经济发展（20世纪40年代至80年代初）,” Nankai University, 2009, supervised by Hong Guoqi洪国起). Experts on American history are, for example,  Fu Chengshuang 付成双 (Ph.D. thesis: “A Study of the Regionalism of Western Canada 加拿大西部地方主义研究,” Peking University, 2000) and Zhang Juguo 张聚国 (Ph.D., Nankai University, 1999). Additionally, there are a few scholars with a different research focus, like Huang Hsiang-Fu 黄相辅 (Ph.D. thesis: “Commercial and Sublime: Popular Astronomy Lectures in Nineteenth Century Britain,” University College London, 2015, supervised by Joe Cain and Simon Werrett), an expert on the history of popular and modern science, or Yuan Weiman 袁玮蔓 (Ph.D. thesis: “Zwischen Wissenschaft und Kolonialismus. Chinesische Medizin im Spiegel deutscher Darstellung in der Kolonialzeit (Between science and colonialism: German representation of Chinese medicine during the colonial age),” Free University of Berlin, 2019), who focuses on modern German history and the history of Sino-German relations.

In 1899 the Imperial University of Peking京师大学堂, Peking University’s 北京大学 predecessor, established a History School 史学堂, which became the History Department  历史学系 in 1919. Kang Baozhong 康宝忠 (1884-1919) served as its first chair, but due to his sudden death had to be succeeded by Zhu Xizhu 朱希祖 (1897-1944) in the following year. In 1983, archaeology was split from history and a separate Department of Archeology was established.

Among the most famous members of the faculty was Li Dazhao 李大钊 (1889-1927), who joined the History Department in 1920. Other well-known scholars that have worked at the Department include Ma Heng 马衡 (1881-1955), Ma Xulun 马叙伦 (1884-1970), Chen Hansheng 陈翰笙 (1897-2004), Fu Sinian 傅斯年 (1896-1950), Chen Yinke 陈寅恪 (1890-1969), Qian Mu 钱穆 (1895-1990), Gu Jiegang 顾颉刚 (1893-1980), and Jian Bozan 翦伯赞 (1898-1968), among many others.  Currently, the Department is headed by Rong Xinjiang 荣新江, an expert on the history of Sino-Foreign relations and Chinese history during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

Today, the Department consists of ten sections: within Chinese History, there is the Center for Research on Ancient Chinese History 中国古代史研究中心 and the Center for Contemporary Chinese History中国近现代史教研室. Concerning the history of other world regions, there are the Center for Ancient & Medieval World History 世界古代史教研室, the Center for Modern & Contemporary Asian, African & Latin American History 亚非拉近现代史教研室 and the Center for Modern & Contemporary European & North American History 欧美近现代史教研室. Additionally, there are the centers for History and Digital Data, Historical Geography and Chinese Maps, History of National Minorities, History of Art, as well as Specialized History.

There are numerous research centers as well, for example, the Research Center for World Modernization Processes 北京大学世界现代化进程研究中心 and the Research Center for World Environmental History 北京大学世界环境史研究中心. An overview of all research centers and their directors can be found here.

Noteworthy world historians currently working at the Department include Wang Lixin 王立新 (Ph.D. from Nankai University, 1996; the director of the Center for Modern & Contemporary European & North American History) Gao Yi 高毅 (Ph.D. from Peking University, 1989) and Enrico Fardella 法恩瑞 (Ph.D. thesis: “The end of the great detente and normalization between the United States and the People’s Republic of China: Carter’s Chinese Charter in Foreign Policy [La fine della grande distensione e la normalizzazione tra Stati Uniti e Repubblica popolare cinese: la Carta cinese nella politica estera di Carter],” University of Florence, 2007, supervised by Massimiliano Guderzo) from the Center for Modern & Contemporary European & North American History. Additionally, there are Zhao Shiyu赵世瑜 (Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University, 1997), the current director of the Center for Specialized History and Yan Haiying 颜海英 (Ph.D. from Northeast Normal University, 1994), the current director of the Center for Ancient & Medieval World History. Scholars with a research focus on global history include Li Wendan 李文丹 (Ph.D. thesis: “Die Vita Papst Gregors IX. (1227–1241): Papst und päpstliches Amt in kurialer Sicht,” Free University of Berlin, 2018) and Xu Guanmian 徐冠勉 (Ph.D. thesis: “Pepper to sea cucumbers: Chinese gustatory revolution in global history, 900-1840,” Leiden University, 2021, supervised by Anne Gerritsen).

In 1959, the Institute of History at the Division of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of the Sciences established a World History Research Group, which was expanded into the Department of History three years later. In 1964, the Institute of World History世界历史研究所was officially established with Chen Hansheng 陈翰笙 (1897-2004) as its first director. When the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences was founded in 1977, the Institute of World History became one of its institutes. Currently, it is headed by Wang Chaoguang 汪朝光 (Ph.D. thesis: “A study on the postwar Guomindang’s decision-making in Dongbei 战后国民党东北决策研究” Fudan University, 2009, supervised by Jin Chongji 金冲及).

The Institute consists of eleven departments:

Additionally, there are three research centers: The Center for Canadian Studies 中国社会科学院加拿大研究中心, the Center for Comparative Studies of Ancient Civilizations 中国历史研究院中华文明与世界古文明比较研究中心, and the Center for Japanese History and Culture Studies 中国社会科学院世界历史研究所日本历史与文化研究中心. Moreover, there are numerous research associations associated with the Institute of World History. Among them are the Chinese Korean History Association 中国朝鲜史研究会 and the Chinese Society of French Historical Studies 中国法国史研究会. An overview of all research associations can be found here.

The Institute of World History publishes two periodicals. World History 世界历史 was founded in 1978 and appears on a bimonthly basis. World History Studies is a semiannual English-language publication established in 2014. According to the institute’s website, it is “designed to build a new platform for academic exchanges between Chinese historians and their international counterparts”. The current Editor-in-Chief of both periodicals is Wang Chaoguang 汪朝光.

At the moment, there are five scholars researching at the Department of Global History: Zhang Wentao 张文涛 is an expert on the philosophy of history. Jing Dexiang 景德祥 (Ph.D. thesis: “Traditional state administration and early industrialization: the case of Qing China (1861-1911) with a comparison to Max Weber [Traditionelle Staatsverwaltung und Frühindustrialisierung: der Fall Qing-China (1861-1911) mit einem Vergleich zu Max Weber],” Free University of Berlin, 1997) focuses on German history. Jiang Nan 姜南 (Ph.D. from Graduate School of CASS 2005) is an expert on European and American Modern History. Li Wenjing 李文靖 has named History of Science and Philosophy of Science as his research interests. Guo Chunlei 国春雷 does research on Russian and Byzantine history.

In 1902, Sanjiang Normal School 三江师范学堂, Nanjing University’s predecessor, founded a section for national history 国史科. This became the History Department 历史学系 in 1952 when it was combined with the History Department and the Department of Border Politics of the former National Central University 中央大学 and the History Department of Nanking University 金陵大学, a private university sponsored by American churches from 1888 to 1952. Since 2014 the department has been called the School of History at Nanjing University 南京大学历史学院. Its current dean is Zhang Sheng张生 (Ph.D. from Nanjing University, 1994, supervised by Mao Jiaqi茅家琦).

The School of History consists of the Department of Chinese History, the Department of World History, and the Department of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, as well as the Institute of International Relations and the Institute of Chinese Border Politics. Additionally, it is associated with several research centers:

  • Center for the History of Republican China 南京大学中华民国史研究中心 established in 1993,
  • Center for European Studies 南京大学欧洲研究中心 established in 2005,
  • Research Center for Digital History数字史学研究中心 established in 2017
  • Center for Nationalities and Frontier Studies 南京大学民族与边疆研究中心, and
  • Research Center for Cultural and Natural Heritage 南京大学文化与自然遗产研究中心.

Furthermore, there is the Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies中国南海研究协同创新中心, a collaboration between several universities and institutions under the leadership of Nanjing University that was established in 2012.

As stated on its website, the School of History places great value on international education: “Of the young teachers on the faculty, 90 percent have the experience of international academic exchange”[1]. There, furthermore, are exchange and cooperation programs with universities like Oxford University, Cambridge University, The University of London, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Paris, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Princeton University.

Among the noteworthy world historians at the History Department of Nanjing University are, for example, Chen Zuzhou 陈祖洲 (Ph.D. from Nanjing University) and Liu Jinyuan 刘金源 (Ph.D. thesis “Economic and Social Issues in the Process of Modernization: Case Studies in Several Countries 现代化进程中的经济社会问题：若干国家的个案研究,” Nanjing University, 1999), who are both experts on Britain and modernization processes. Other scholars worth mentioning include the dean of the Department of World History Hong Yousheng 洪邮生(Ph.D. from Nanjing University, 1998), who focuses on the history of international relations, and Yu Wenjie 于文杰 (Ph.D. thesis: “Research on the Modernity of Chinese Aesthetic Education 中国美育现代性研究”, Nanjing University, 2000, supervised by Zhao Xianzhang 赵宪章), an expert on the history of academic thought.

[1]“About,” School of History, Nanjing University, accessed April 6th, 2022, https://history.nju.edu.cn/historyen/41205/list.htm.