The 2023 Annual Academic Conference of the China Society for British History was successfully held at Nanjing University
From June 2 to 5, 2023, the Annual Conference of the China Society for British History was held at Nanjing University. The theme of the conference was "The Study of British History under the Great Changes of the Century". The theme of the conference was "Research on British History under the Great Changes of the Century", The conference was attended by nearly 200 experts and scholars from more than 80 research institutes and institutions of higher learning, including Nanjing Normal University, Jiangsu Normal University and Yangzhou University, as well as postgraduate students from the Department of World History of Nanjing University, who submitted more than 150 papers, the largest number of participants and papers submitted since the establishment of the China Society of British History.
The opening ceremony of the conference was held at 9:00 am on June 3, hosted by Professor Liu Cheng, Director of the Institute of British and Commonwealth Studies, School of History, Nanjing University. Professor Gao Dai, President of the Society for the Study of China British History and Professor of the Department of History, Peking University, Professor Chen Xiaolu, Vice President of the Society for the Study of China British History and Professor of the School of History, Nanjing University, Researcher Zhao Qing, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of History, Nanjing University, and Professor Chen Yunsong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Nanjing University, delivered speeches in succession.
President Gao Dai recalled his own experience of studying at Nanjing University and spoke highly of the outstanding contributions made by the first generation of Chinese scholars of British history to the development of British history in China. This conference is the first offline large-scale academic annual meeting after the epidemic, and I hope that this time it will produce more academic collisions and exchanges. President Gao hoped that all colleagues would work together and make more contributions to the further development of the Society for the Study of British History in China. Professor Chen Xiaolu introduced the history of the development of British history at Nanjing University, affirmed the efforts and achievements of several generations of history scholars at Nanjing University, and expressed his sincere gratitude to everyone for their continuous support to the study of British history at Nanjing University.
Professor Gao Dai, President of the China Society for British History
Professor Chen Xiaolu, Nanjing University
Secretary Zhao Qing pointed out that Nanjing University has made great contributions to the teaching and research of British history and world history in China, and that it is very significant that this conference was held at Nanjing University. At the same time, he said that the School of History of Nanjing University will maintain close contact and cooperation with all experts and scholars, and continue to make efforts to promote the innovation and progress of British history research.
Researcher Zhao Qing, Secretary of the Party Committee, School of History,
Nanjing University
On behalf of Nanjing University, Chen Yunsong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Nanjing University, extended warm congratulations to the 2023 Annual Academic Conference of the China Society for British History, and at the same time gave a warm welcome to the experts and a brief introduction to the running of Nanjing University. Deputy Secretary Chen Yunsong said that Nanjing University would continue to support the development of all disciplines in the School of History, including British History, and hoped to continue to receive support from sister institutions and fellow scholars.
Professor Chen Yunsong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Nanjing University
The keynote speech of the conference was chaired by Prof. Zhang Yadong, Secretary General of the China Society of British History and Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee of Hunan University of Technology. Prof. Chen Xiaolu analyzed the recent political "chaos" in Britain and argued that the study of Britain needs to be analyzed in the context of empire. Prof. Gao Dai, starting from the historical examination, clarified the legal relationship between England and Scotland, and made a comprehensive analysis of the development of religious, economic and social relations after the union of England and the USSR in 1707, and put forward his own opinions on the future development of the relationship between England and Scotland. Professor Liu Jinghua, vice president of the Society for the Study of China British History and professor of Tianjin Normal University, gave an introduction to the primordial civilizations of the Middle Ages world, arguing that these civilizations absorbed many nutrients from their predecessors and contemporaries. Professor Meng Guanglin of Renmin University of China, vice president of the Society for the Study of British History in China, believes that how to interpret the feudal contract is an important issue in the study of the political history of Western Europe, and that it is important to start from specific historical facts and not to interpret the historical path with the coordinates of reality. Wu Bikang, former Vice President and legal person of the China Society of British History and researcher of the Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, recalled the past of Mr. Jiang Mengyi in his academic research and encouraged future students to look up to the older generation of scholars, to be mindful of the country and to have high aspirations. Researcher Zhang Shunhong, former Director of the Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, discussed whether Britain had experienced a slave society in its history, and concluded that Britain had experienced a slave society before entering a feudal society, reflecting the universal law of human social development. The scholars' keynote speeches not only restored historical events and facts, but also tried to extract wisdom and inspiration from history.
The annual academic conference on British history in China has set up three sub-forums, the themes of which are: "British politics, military and diplomacy", "British religion, culture and society" and "British economy, environment and medical care".
The conference also set up a special session for PhD students, which provided a platform for young scholars to communicate with each other and open up their research perspectives.
The summary of the sub-forum was chaired by Zhang Jin, Deputy Secretary General of the Society for the Study of British History in China and Associate Researcher of the Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 10 representatives of the sub-forum made concluding remarks and reported on the academic discussions and exchanges of each group.
The closing ceremony of the annual conference was chaired by Professor Zhu Hongjun, Head of the Department of World History, School of History, Nanjing University. Professor Gao Dai, President of the China Society for British History, made a concluding speech on the conference. Professor Gao Dai believed that the characteristics of the conference could be summarized by the word "new". First of all, this conference should be regarded as a new starting point for the study of British history in China. All scholars were enthusiastic in attending the conference, and the scale and organization of the conference reached a new level. Secondly, there were many new faces among the participants, which means that there is a new generation of British history research and a strong momentum for the development of the China Society of British History. Finally, the papers presented at the conference have emerged in many "new" fields. Compared with the earlier conferences on British history in China, the research themes presented now are more diversified, such as medical history, environmental history, gender history and sports history, which are all new expansions of research fields. As the president of the British History Research Association, Mr. Gao is sincerely pleased and wishes the School of History of Nanjing University the best!
Professor Chen Xiaolu of the School of History, Nanjing University, also highly praised the conference. Professor Chen Xiaolu believes that the development of the annual academic conference on China British history is a microcosm of the era of China's reform and opening up for more than forty years, and that the novel selection of topics, in-depth research, and cross-disciplinary perspectives all reflect the progress of China British history research. Professor Chen Xiaolu expressed his warm congratulations on the successful convening of the conference, thanked the experts and scholars for their careful preparation and full participation, and thanked the conference team for their elaborate preparation and silent dedication.
The 2023 Annual Academic Conference of the China Society of British History concluded successfully with a round of applause from the participating scholars. As an academic feast for the discipline of British history, the conference shared the cutting-edge developments in British history research, promoted exchanges and friendship among scholars, and heralded a more brilliant future for British history research in China.
Author: Wang Yangqingya, Yue Run
