Great Hospitality – Great Scholarship in Pearl River Delta

Delegation of the Faculty of Humanities visited the Sun Yat-sen University

The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Prof. Stefan Garsztecki, and Prof. Josef Schmied, the initiator and coordinator of the cooperation, visited our partner Sun Yat-sen University, November, 22-27, 2016. They visited the Campus in Zhuhai, the former special trade area just north of Macau, and the South Campus in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, the large Chinese province around the Pearl River Delta. The small delegation arrived in Zhuhai by ferry directly from Hong Kong Airport and discussed the cooperation with their colleagues in the School of International Studies. Prof. Schmied gave a lecture for MA students, and both partners confirmed their willingness to expand the cooperation.

They visited the vibrant city of Guangzhou and enjoyed life on the extended and leafy South Campus, where the School of Foreign Languages occupies an impressive building. They took the opportunity to attend a symposium on Systemic Functional Grammar organized by Prof. Chang, and an Asia Pacific Writers and Translators Conference organized by Prof. Dai, who had both visited Chemnitz in 2014. The School is famous as a great organizer of international conferences, which contributes to the remarkable scholarship in the university. Prof. Garsztecki and Prof. Schmied greatly enjoyed (again) the hospitality of their partners, not only professors, but also former exchange students to Chemnitz, who had started their jobs in international companies, as teachers in colleges, or as PhD students.

Prof. Garsztecki, a specialist for Eastern Europe, continued his comparisons with East Asia, which he had started in Japan and Korea before. He was greatly impressed by our Chinese partner university: thousands of new yellow bikes on the campuses, the lively atmosphere everywhere, the impressive new town centre, the overwhelming hospitality and keen interest in collaborating to establish SYSU centres for Academic Writing and Eastern European Studies - even getting lost in the labyrinth of 20,000 retail shops in the textile city just outside the South Gate was an unforgettable experience.

The delegation hopes to be able to expand the existing cooperation in the faculty. Some colleagues in education/pedagogy and political science have already expressed their interest, so that the Summer School planned in Chemnitz for August 2017 may not be the only result of this visit. For further details, please contact the coordinator, Prof. Schmied, e-mail josef.schmied@phil.tu-chemnitz.de

(Author: Prof. Josef Schmied)

Mario Steinebach
14.12.2016

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