On the afternoon of June 25, 2024, Professor Eugene Ch'ng, Dean of the School of Culture and Creativity, visited Anhui University and Anhui Academy of Arts for inter-school exchange activities, and had discussions with the visiting universities respectively. Both universities warmly welcomed the visit of Professor Eugene Ch'ng and his delegation. After introducing each other's university and school conditions, they had in-depth exchanges on their respective curriculum settings and teaching conditions and reached preliminary intentions to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the future.

The meeting with Anhui University was attended by Mr. Hu Xuewen, Director of the International Exchange Office、 Professor Liu Quan and Tian Yali, Dean and Vice Dean of the College of Arts、Mr. Wang Qin, Secretary of the Party Committee, and heads of relevant departments and disciplines; The meeting with Anhui Academy of Arts was attended by Professor Chen Ming, Director of the International development and exchange Office、Professor Ding Fan, Director of Foreign Cooperation office、 and Associate Professor Kan Kan, Director of Teaching and learning office. From UIC, Professor Eugene Ch'ng, Dean of School of Culture and Creativity、Dr Gailan Wei, Head of Department of Film, Television and New Media, and Ms. Jie Wang, Associate Head of Department of Music, participated in the exchange discussion.

The scene of the exchange symposium held at Anhui University

The scene of the exchange symposium held at Anhui Academy of Arts

Anhui University is one of the first universities included in the national "Double First-Class" initiative and "211 Project". Its College of Arts has four teaching departments: Design, Fine Arts, Music, and Drama, and one Public Arts Education Center. It offers six undergraduate majors, including Painting, Environmental Design, Visual Communication Design, Product Design, Film and Television Directing, and Music Performance. Several of these majors have been approved as national or provincial first-class undergraduate major construction sites. The college currently has a first-level master's degree program in Art Studies, covering areas such as Music History and Theory, Drama History and Theory, Art History and Theory, and Design History and Theory. It also has the right to confer Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Music, Fine Arts and Calligraphy, and Design. The college actively carries out inter-school and school-enterprise cooperation. It has established cooperative relationships with many universities and art colleges in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and other countries. Several teachers and students have been invited to exchange and study in the United States, Europe, Japan, Singapore, and other countries.

Anhui Academy of Arts is an application-oriented higher education institution, mainly training applied arts talents to meet the needs of the emerging regional industries. The academy offers 19 undergraduate majors, including Music Performance, Film and Television Performance, Broadcasting and Hosting Art, and Painting. It features majors that highlight the local cultural characteristics of Anhui, such as Performance (with a focus on Huang Mei Opera), Chinese Painting, and Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The academy has more than 200,000 square meters of teaching space, including theaters, concert halls, art galleries, master studios, and professional teaching venues for drama and opera, dance, music, fine arts, design, broadcasting and hosting, and film and television production.

The scene of the exchange symposium held at Anhui Academy of Arts.

The scene of the exchange symposium held at Anhui University.

The academy also actively promotes Sino-foreign cooperative education projects and has successively cooperated with many famous art colleges such as the St. Petersburg Music College in Russia, the Italian Fashion College, and Oberlin College in the United States. It has also carried out school-enterprise cooperation with cultural and media organizations such as the Anhui Performing Arts Group, Anhui Broadcasting Group, and the Provincial Art Museum, forming a model of resource sharing and collaborative education.

During the symposium with the two universities, Professor Eugene Ch'ng introduced the overview of UIC, emphasizing UIC’s commitment to liberal arts education and nurturing students with an international perspective. He also detailed the school of Culture and Creativity’s achievements in discipline construction, curriculum setting, student training, and employment trends. Subsequently, Dr Gailan Wei , Head of Department of Film, Television and New Media; Ms. Jie Wang, Associate Head of Department ofMusic introduced the situation of their respective departments.

Professor Eugene Ch'ng stated that both Anhui University and Anhui Academy of Arts have strong faculty and significant teaching achievements, many of which are worth learning and drawing upon. Both universities expressed their hope to use this symposium as a starting point to strengthen mutual contact and communication and promote further exchanges and cooperation with UIC. Professor Eugene Ch'ng also expressed his hope to deepen cooperation in areas such as teaching visits and practical exchanges.

Professor Eugene Ch'ng was introducing the overview of UIC and SCC

Dr Gailan Wei was introducing Department of Film, Television and New Media

Ms. Jie Wang was introducing Department of Music