History

In 2004, the School of Literature and Journalism was founded by the three teaching departments of the former School of Humanities: Chinese, journalism and the public college for Chinese and humanities. The newly established cultural industry specialty was put under the School of Business Administration and Tourism Management a year later. In 2006, the school was renamed the School of Humanities. In 2015, the journalism department separated from the School of Humanities and became the School of Journalism. The School of Liberal Arts, composed of the departments of Chinese and the public college for Chinese and humanities of the former School of Humanities, was established in December 2015.

Goals

The School of Liberal Arts has four goals for its disciplines, team building and talent cultivation. The first goal is to make Chinese language and literature a top-ranking discipline in China. The second goal is to open up an international channel for Belt and Road cultural communication and build and promote an elite team of international Chinese educators. The third goal is to attract and employ new faculty members to cultivate outstanding experts in Chinese language and literature. The fourth goal is to provide first-rate talents and intellectual services in Chinese language and literature for Yunnan's development.

Majors 

The School of Liberal Arts now runs two undergraduate programs: Chinese language and literature and Chinese international education.

There is one Level I master's degree authorization center in Chinese language and literature, and eight Level II master's programs other than folklore and aesthetics. In addition, there is one professional master's degree program in Chinese international education.

The school has one Level I doctor's degree authorization center in Chinese language and literature through which it hosts nine Level II doctoral programs (including the school's unique specialty of cultural communication). There is also a Level II doctoral program -- Chinese minority arts.

The school currently has one state-level characteristic discipline (Chinese language and literature), one provincial key construction specialty (Chinese language and literature), two provincial key disciplines (the study of literature and arts and national culture), and one provincial research base of philosophy and social sciences (a research base of Chinese language and literature and Chinese cultural identity).

Chinese international education is the first undergraduate program teaching Chinese as a foreign language in Yunnan province. It initiated the "2+2" cooperative training mode for bachelors of Chinese in 2004, and the professional master's degree of Chinese international education began to enroll postgraduates in 2009, gradually forming the tri-degree talent training system from bachelor to doctorate.

Faculty

The School of Liberal Arts has a faculty of 62 outstanding teachers. One of them enjoys a special government allowance awarded by the State Council and one a special government allowance awarded by the Yunnan provincial government; one faculty member was selected under the National Ten Thousand Program for Youth Top-notch Talents; two faculty members are recognized as early and mid-career science and technology leaders of Yunnan province and another is eligible for that designation.

Research  

1. The research of ancient Chinese literary theory continues to develop.

2. The theoretical research of narratology is in the lead position in China.

3. The school's research of ethnic minority literature and culture has distinct features.

4. Chinese international education is extending its influence.

Internationalization

In recent years, we have taken advantage of the discipline of Chinese language and literature and set up four Confucius Institutes in Iran, Myanmar and Bangladesh; another is in preparation. The Institutes have cultivated a large number of Chinese talents and made contributions to the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative, the enhancement of international cultural exchange and the expansion of regional trade cooperation.