With a time-honored history, foreign language education at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) has been playing an important part in SUFE’s over 100-year development, especially in today’s stepped-up process of internationalization. The Department of Foreign Languages for Economics and Business was established in 1993; after 20 years of development it evolved into the School of Foreign Studies (SFS), whose establishment was officially announced in 2014. Key milestones in the 20-year development mainly include, but are not limited to, a master’s degree program in English Language and Literature (2nd-level discipline) approved in 2006, a master’s degrees program in Foreign Language and Literature (1st-level discipline) approved in 2011, and a professional master’s degree in Translation and Interpreting (MTI) in 2018, resulting in a well-honed fundamental system around the 1st-level discipline Foreign Language and Literature at our SFS.
For more than twenty years, SFS has been following the university motto “Integrity and Knowledge in the Service of the Nation” and the philosophy of “promoting all-round development of students with truth-pursuing and down-to-earth attitudes.” With a strong sense of mission to foster first-rate students, SFS has achieved remarkable accomplishments in student development, scientific research, and social service. For example, our undergraduate program in Business English has long been listed as the top 3% in China. By offering comprehensive education that incorporates individualized training and international experience and aims to enhance students’ abilities, this program has prepared many interdisciplinary graduates with high proficiency in English as well as in finance and economics, critical thinking, creativity, and leadership. High praise has been earned from both employers and parents. In addition, we have a faculty team of research excellence, contributing to areas such as theoretical linguistics, applied linguistics, business English, foreign literature, and translation studies. In the fourth-round national evaluation, SFS’s research achieved a top 38% ranking, with academic publications ranked 35th (top 21%) — a ranking that surpasses some doctoral degree programs with much longer history. At the same time, SFS ranks at top 36% nationally for its social work and reputation, which shows that our efforts have been recognized and appreciated by the public, as well as the parents, students and employers.
It is the collective contribution of every teacher and student of SFS that has made the above achievements possible. No pains no gains. Ask not harvest but efforts. Like our students — energetic and enterprising — SFS is advancing into a golden age that exalts unparalleled youth. We hope that our teachers, students, parents and alumni can unite as one in support of the development of SFS. In so doing we are moving forward steadily, one step at a time, toward the future.
Qiao Xiaomei