The North Africa Research Team of SFL successfully hosted an academic salon exchange meeting in November 2023. The exchange meeting, divided into two sessions, featured Professor Wang Xingang, Director of the Syrian Studies Center at Northwest University, and Associate Professor Zhang Yuyou from the Middle East Studies Institute at Northwest University sharing their academic research experiences and insights. The event was chaired by Dean Cao Ruonan, with the participation of all faculty members from North Africa Studies Team of SFL.
The first session of the salon exchange was held on November 9th, with Professor Wang Xingang discussing topics such as academic research methods, paradigms, topic selection, and project initiation. Professor Wang introduced various academic research types, methods of academic history review, and the importance of problem awareness and logical connections in academic paper writing. He emphasized the innovation and practical significance of research topics and addressed the difficulties and questions faced by young faculty members in academic research, including comparative and reference methods in country and area studies, entry points for language policy research, and the dissemination of Chinese cultural symbols abroad.
The second session of the academic salon exchange took place on November 29th, with Associate Professor Zhang Yuyou interpreting the advantages, potential difficulties, and corresponding solutions for our faculty members conducting regional country research. He discussed the new developments of research on Middle Eastern history since the 21st century, suggesting researchers focus on micro-level aspects such as emotional history, mentality history and environmental history in the Middle East. Furthermore, Associate Professor Zhang engaged in discussions with our faculty members on topics such as Egyptian Arabic dialects, language policy, national and ethnic identity, cross-border trade of palm oil in African countries, the evolution of related environmental policies, and the relationship between colonization and history.
This academic salon provided an important platform for academic exchange among our faculty members. Through in-depth discussions with Professor Wang Xingang and Associate Professor Zhang Yuyou, our faculty gained a deeper understanding of relevant issues in area studies, clarified their research directions and approaches, and significantly enhanced their confidence in academic research.
Text: Hao Xin
Photo: Qu Yuanjun
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