On December 19, 2015, Peking University's President Lin Jianhua came to Yenching Academy (YCA) to hold a seminar on the development of the YCA with leadership of the YCA, representatives from relevant departments of Peking University, members of YCA teaching faculty, and other professors and teachers.
Professor Jiang Guohua, the Director of Operations of YCA started off the seminar by reporting on the development of Yenching program since the semester began in September. He also concluded the achievements and shortcomings of YCA operations. Professor Jiang invited participants to discuss ways to improve the academic quality of the program, strengthen the organizational capacity and faculty appointments, enhance cooperation with other PKU departments, and create a strong international brand.
Based on the topics suggested by Professor Jiang, an active discussion was engaged among participants including Professor Cheng Lesong from the School of Philosophy, Professor Cheng Yuzhui, Professor Jin Li from the Guanghua School of Management, Professor Peng Feng from the School of Arts, Professor Xie Lizhong from the School of Sociology, Professor Xu Xianglin from the School of Government Management, Professor Yuan Ming from the School of International Studies, Professor Zhang Chi from the School of Archaeology, Professor Zhang Fan from the History Department, Professor Zhang Xudong from the School of Chinese Studies, Professor Zhao Yang from the School for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Director Xia Hongwei from the Department of International Cooperation, Associate Director Liu Mingli from the School of Graduate Studies, and Associate Dean Wang Bo, Cai Hongbing, and John Holden from the Yenching Academy.
After listening to the discussion, President Lin Jianhua expressed his hopes for fostering greater cooperation between Yenching Academy and other academic departments. Since the Yenching program is interdisciplinary in nature, President Lin highly encouraged the program to take full advantage of the other resources at Peking University, especially in the areas of social sciences and humanities and to also share insight on other teaching methods and approaches. President Lin provided his optimism of Yenching Academy becoming an even more academically rigorous and enriching program in the years ahead.
