Nov 8th, 2017
SCU News Center * Reporting by Wang Mengfei * Photographs by Yang Xiujian * Editing by Li Zijia
On the morning of November 7th, Sichuan University held the Opening Ceremony for its newly established Polish Language Program at SCU’s National Base for Leadership Education and Training. Jointly hosted by Sichuan University’s College of Foreign Languages and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chengdu, the ceremony was an important highlight of this year’s Chengdu Polish Culture Festival.
SCU Vice President Yan Shijing;Consul Generalof the Republic of Poland in Chengdu, Ms. Katarzyna Wilkowiecka; and representatives of the Sichuan Provincial Government Foreign Affairs Office and Education Department, along with students and Polish studies faculty from SCU’s College of Foreign Languages, attended the ceremony.
Yan Shijing offered a word of welcome and introduced the background and preparatory work for the establishment of SCU’s Polish Program. Against the larger historical backdrop of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative, as well as the “16+1” (China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries) cooperation mechanism, training interdisciplinary talents with foreign langauge skills has become more important than ever for China’s universities. If economic partnerships are to prosper, the partners should first learn to speak each other’s langauges, Yan stressed, adding that without a solid basis for bilateral communication, Sino-Polish exchanges and economic development will face inevitable restrictions. Vice President Yan stated that SCU would vigorously promote its“Polish+” major; set concrete goals for collaborating with the University of Warsaw in joint training and student exchanges; and educate students who will not only master the Polish language but become conversant in Polish politics, economics, and culture, thereby supporting the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative and the “Chengdu-Europe Plus” strategy for the advancement of comprehensive socio-economic development. The joint training program not only promotes foreign language education at SCU and the University of Warsaw; it also promotes Sino-Polish cultural relations on a broader, intergovernmental scale.
Consul GeneralMs. Katarzyna Wilkowiecka said she was delighted to be part of the opening ceremony of SCU’s Polish Program on the 150thanniversary of Marie Curie’s birth. After presenting an overview of Marie Curie’s lifetime achievements, she congratulated the first 14 students entering SCU’s Polish program, wishing them all the best for their future studies and careers.
Following the speches, Yan Shijing,Ms. Wilkowiecka, and the dean of SCU’s School of Foreign Languages, Duan Feng, together unveiled the plaque for the new Polish language major. On behalf of the Consulate General, Ms. Wilkowiecka presented Sichuan University with an original work of traditional Polish art.
To conclude the inauguration, the first 14 Polish majors offered a fine rendition of a Polish folk tune, which was received with rapturous applause.
SCU’s newest major serves the advancement and further implementation of various national initiatives, such as Belt and Road and China’s growing economic partnerships with countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It is hoped that the program will produce well-rounded, interdisciplinary experts in Polish studies and relevant related fields, such as international relations, some of whom might go on to make vital contributions to Sino-Polish relations. To this end, SCU has hired Polish faculty from the University of Warsaw and the University of Łódź.
