Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences-Beihang University

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Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences

The Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences was established in November 2010. It is located on the 4th floor of Building 9 at the Xueyuan Road Campus of Beihang University.

The Institute is a directly affiliated institution and a special zone for humanities development at Beihang University. It was established under the university's strategic framework of "Integration of Aeronautics, Astronautics, and Information Sciences, and Comprehensive Development of Science, Engineering, and Humanities." It serves as a platform for high-level general education in the humanities, the cultivation of top-tier talents in liberal arts, the development of basic and emerging humanities disciplines, high-end research, and think tank initiatives. It was officially inaugurated by then-President Huai Jinpeng. Gao Quanxi and Cai Jinsong once served as deans of the Institute. Li Yamei and Yu Jinlong used to be secretaries of the General Party Branch directly affiliated with the Institute. The current dean is Long Weiqiu, and the current secretary of the Party Committee is He Qing.

Study

The Institute always upholds the principles of "serving the university, exploring and innovating, putting teachers and students first, and building the Institute based on academic strength." It strives to construct the university's "pilot zone for talent cultivation" and the "specialized zone for disciplinary innovation" for the innovation of humanities and social sciences in line with the needs of the university's reform and development. It takes the lead in carrying out pilot programs for broad-category talent cultivation in the field of liberal arts, exploring corresponding models and mechanisms, and accumulating experience for the university-wide reform. To meet the university's demand for high-level humanities and social sciences, the Institute has introduced an intensified development mechanism, accelerating the construction and development of basic liberal arts, new liberal arts, and high-end think tanks, and serving major national strategies and significant socio-economic needs.

The Institute adheres to the guiding ideology of "strengthening the foundation, developing distinctive strengths, promoting interdisciplinary integration, and emphasizing think tanks" for disciplinary construction. Centering around the requirements of "high positioning, high quality, high realm and high platform," the Institute delves deeply into basic and interdisciplinary disciplines in liberal arts, conducts high-end humanities and social sciences research, makes efforts to expand the directions and research fields of new liberal arts, and continuously establishes interdisciplinary, cross-departmental, cross-university collaborative innovation platforms and think tank bases, significantly contributing to the university's strategy of providing an excellent liberal arts education.

As an explorer and pioneer in the pursuit of excellence in talent cultivation and the reform of major-category education at Beihang University, the Institute has undertaken the task of exploring innovative talent cultivation models for the university. Firstly, it has launched the "Zhixing Liberal Arts Experimental Class" for undergraduates, which aims to explore the cultivation of top-notch talents in liberal arts. Since its enrollment in 2011, it has successfully cultivated outstanding interdisciplinary talents in politics, law, economics, and management for more than a dozen consecutive sessions. Its experience has attracted widespread attention and been promoted among domestic universities. Secondly, it insists on serving the overall goal of cultivating excellent talents, and makes every effort to provide high-level general liberal arts education to meet the university's requirements. Over the past ten years, it has explored flexible mechanisms, taken advantage of its open platform, organized and undertaken multi-level and high-quality general education in humanities and social sciences, deepened the connotation of quality education with Beihang characteristics, and offered a number of high-level general courses, continuously enhancing the influence of Beihang's general education brand.

Faculty

The Institute prioritizes the development of high-caliber faculty and research teams. Leveraging its platform advantages, it attracts outstanding scholars and experts from both within and beyond the university. It has built an interdisciplinary, cross-departmental, cross-university management and evaluation system that focuses on quality and contributions. It has expanded the collaboration with academic institutions and expert scholars at home and abroad, and actively recruits jointly-appointed and part-time teaching staff and researchers who are suitable for the development of the Institute. Currently, the Institute has nearly 40 faculty members, and about 60 full-time and part-time members of staff. Among them, there are more than 30 full-time teachers, including 14 professors and 12 associate professors.

Research

The Institute has five departments and centers, namely the Department of Philosophy, the Department of Journalism-Cultural Communication and Management, the Center for Regional Research on Classics and Civilization (General Education and Curriculum Center of Beihang University), the Research Center for Science and Technology Governance-Economy and Law (Think Tank Development Center of Beihang University), and the Practical Teaching Center, covering the basic disciplines of literature, history, philosophy, and the fields of new liberal arts. Currently, it has a first-level master's degree program in philosophy (including four second-level disciplines: Chinese Philosophy, Marxist Philosophy, Foreign Philosophy, and Philosophy of Science and Technology), an interdisciplinary master's degree program in Cultural Communication and Management (co-established with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences), and other discipline programs. Meanwhile, it is working with the School of Law and other schools to establish interdisciplinary doctoral degree programs. It has jointly established think tanks at or above the provincial and ministerial level with the School of Law and others, including the Research Institute of Science and Technology Organizations and Public Policies, the Research Base of Beijing Science and Technology Innovation Center, and the German Research Center.

The Institute actively aligns its development goals with contributing to the cultural strength of the nation and advancing the construction of a "Double First-Class" university. It strengthens cooperation with various academic and cultural institutions, focusing on building academic brands such as "Beihang Advanced Research Forum," "Beihang Liberal Arts Forum," "Lectures by Renowned Experts," "Famous Lectures on Philosophy of Science and Technology," and "International High-end Lectures of Advanced Research Institute." It also organizes a variety of humanities and social sciences forums, seminars, workshops, academic salons, and academic gatherings to broaden students' horizons and continuously enhance vitality and creativity.

International Cooperation

The Institute is committed to its mission and cultivates outstanding talents with international vision. It advocates "independent learning, open competition, enhancement of literacy, and sound personality," and provides platforms and opportunities for students. The past decade has seen an increasingly higher quality of undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled. Many students have won the Shen Yuan Medal (Gold Medal), the highest medal for Beihang students. Around 92% of undergraduates each year pursue further studies in prestigious universities at home and abroad, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Renmin University of China, China University of Political Science and Law, Wuhan University, Nanjing University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Cornell University, the University of Chicago in the United States, the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Melbourne in Australia. Students have won many important honors in international and national competitions, including consecutive championships in the men's basketball competitions at the Xueyuan Road Campus in 2022 and 2023, and the first prize in Beijing Challenge Cup in 2021.

Tel: +86-10-82316778
Email：gyy29@buaa.edu.cn
Address：Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beihang University, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, P.R. China