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Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) is a key university under
the Ministry of Education (MOE). BFSU has long enjoyed a good
reputation in the qualities of her language teaching programs and has
witnessed rapid development in teaching and research activities over
the past two decades. BFSU now is incorporating more
interdisciplinaries programs and offers a variety of tertiary education
programs (programs with BA, MA, Ph.D. degrees or certificates).
International Study and Exchange
BFSU
is engaged in extensive international cooperation ad exchanges
activities. It has established academic links with 165 international
institutions of higher education from over 45 countries and regions
over the last two decades.
China first enrolled
international students in the 1950s. The number of overseas students in
Chinese universities rose quickly after China endorsed the reforms and
opening up policies two decades ago. BFSU has recruited 3,183 long-term
international students from 37 countries, including 466 undergraduate
students from Japan and 2,226 short-term overseas students. Some of
them have returned to their home countries to take up positions in
related areas and some are working at their embassies in China.
BFSU receives a number of governmental, diplomatic, educational and
cultural visits from around the world each year. A number of
distinguished public figures, including state leaders have also visited
BFSU, including German Chancellor Kohl, Australian Premier Hawk and
Swedish Prime Minister Perrson in the past.
BFSU recruits around 70 international faculty members each year, which
tops other universities in China. The international faculty members are
well-recognized for their contributions to BFSU in improving the
qualities of teaching, developing new programs, offering teacher’s
training and expanding academic links overseas.
Additional Information
There are 9 academic departments at BFSU. They are departments of
English, German, French, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, Afro-Asian
Languages, East European Languages and Social Sciences. In addition,
there are 7 schools and institutes at BFSU. They are School of Russian,
Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation, School of English
Communication, School of Adult Education, School of International
Economy and Trade, School of International Exchange and Research
Institute of Foreign Languages and Culture. Other facilities include
the University A-V Center, and the University Library.
BFSU offers 30 undergraduate programs in foreign language studies
including English, Russian, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic,
Italian, Swedish, Portuguese, Kampuchean, Vietnamese, Lao, Burmese,
Thai, Indonesian, Malay, Sinhalese, Turkish, Korean, Swahili, Hausa,
Polish, Czech, Hungary, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, and
Albanian. BFSU also provides undergraduate programs in information
management, Chinese as a foreign language, international economy and
trade, and international studies.
BFSU provides post-graduate programs leading to a master’s degree in
arts or a doctoral degree in philosophy. BFSU has 7 Ph.D. programs in
the areas of English Language and Literature, Russian Language and
Literature, German Language and Literature, Arabic Language and
Literature, Japanese Language and Literature, Spanish Language and
Literature, and European Languages and Literature. BFSU also offers
post-doctoral fellowships in Foreign Languages and Literature studies.
There are 11 MA programs at BFSU including English, Russian, German,
Arabic, Japanese, Spanish, European Languages, French, Afro-Asian
Languages, linguistics and applied linguistics in foreign languages,
and linguistics and applied linguistics in Chinese. English Language
and Literature at BFSU is a state-recognized key study of the
discipline.
BFSU offers the largest number of language learning programs and other
interdisciplinary studies in China. The university draws the support
from her highly-qualified and well-recognized faculty and staff in
teaching and research in the areas of foreign language studies,
literature, linguistics, translation and culture studies. Two of the
professors at BFSU are members of the Academic Disciplines Subcomittee
of the Academic Degrees Committee under the State Council; Twelve
professors at BFSU sit on the University English Teaching Steering
Committee under the MOE. Four professors are recognized by the state
for their distinguished academic achievements. Another 115 faculty
members are recognized by the state for their academic performance and
receive state subsidies. The faculty members at BFSU have scored
fruitful results in teaching and research in their academic fields over
the past decades. They have contributed to the training of qualified
professionals well-versed in foreign languages and to the progress of
BFSU’ s teaching, research and program development. Many of them have
become leading figures in their academic fields and enjoy good
reputation in the academic community.
BFSU has won the name of “garden university” with her attractive
physical environment for learning in the Western suburbs of Beijing.
The campus occupies an area of 304,553 square meters, with a student
dorm area of 40,000 m2 and a library of 9997 m2. Other facilities on
campus include an A-V Center, dinner halls, a university hospital, a
stadium and tennis courts.
BFSU was qualified for the first round of the competition in her
efforts to enter the “ 211Project”, launched by the Ministry of
Education in 1996. The initial success is a hallmark in the history of
the development of BFSU. BFSU aims at developing into a world class
university known for her excellence in language learning/research and
multi-disciplinary studies and providing learning opportunities to
cater the growing needs in the Chinese society for well-training and
competent professionals with high levels of proficiency in foreign
languages.
Beijing Foreign Studies University evolved from the Yan’ an School of
Foreign Languages based on the Russian Language Unit of the Third
Branch of the Chinese People’ s Anti-Japanese Military and Political
College. The latter was established by the Chinese Communist Party in
response to the development of the war against the Japanese invasion.
Ever since her initiation, the Party Central Committee and the late
Chinese leaders, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, has provided
great care and teachings for the development of the university. BFSU
has been China’ s principal base offering excellent training in foreign
language learning and teaching. The university has turned out a large
number of graduates with high levels of proficiency in foreign
languages, who work in government departments of foreign relations or
related areas since 1949. In her history of over half a century,
Chinese leaders Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen Yi, Ye Jianying, Yang
Shangkun, Liao Chengzhi, among others, have provided great care and
guidance to the university. BFSU was affiliated to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs from her establishment to the early 1980s and it is
currently a key university under MOE.
During the 90s, BFSU boosted up its cooperation and exchanges with 53
major foreign universities and educational institutions. The activities
include academic conferences, visits and student exchanges programs and
exchange of information and teaching resources. Since 1981, BFSU has
offered overseas study and training to 846 teachers and students in
over 46 countries and regions for periods of six months or above
Due to these extensive international cooperation and exchanges, BFSU
enjoys a good reputation overseas. BFSU is also known for its excellent
pool of international faculty members. The university attracts
outstanding academics throughout the world. As a result, teaching and
research capabilities have been improved.
Besides its multi-lingual environment, BFSU’s outstanding teaching and
research strength in foreign language studies in the region and in the
world as a whole makes it an ideal venue to host a variety of
international academic conferences. The university hosts 8 to 10
international conferences each year. Conferences held in the past few
years include the International Germanic Symposium, the Asia-Pacific
French Language Teaching Symposium, the International Editorial
Conference of Russian Journals, the First Sino-U.S. Symposium, the
International Spanish Studies Symposium, the International Symposium on
Japanese Studies and Japanese Studies in China, the Italian Studies
Symposium and the Arabic Culture Studies Symposium.
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