The School of Arts at Nanjing University was established in November 2017 and is a joint unit of the Chinese Language, Literature, and Art Double First-class Discipline at Nanjing University.
Historical Background. Nanjing University has a rich and storied tradition in the field of art education and research. The earliest roots can be traced back to the Painting and Handicraft Department, which was established by Liangjiang Normal School, the predecessor of Nanjing University, in 1906. This was the dawn of modern art education in China. Subsequently, Central University began conducting research and teaching in the field of drama in 1922 and established an art major in 1928. In 1929, art education courses were introduced, covering four subjects: traditional Chinese painting, Western painting, handicrafts, and music. The Film and Audio Department of Jinling University, founded in 1933, pioneered the teaching and research of modern Chinese cinema. Both schools had top-tier art departments in China at the time. Throughout the university's history, remarkable artists such as Xu Beihong, Zhang Daqian, Chen Zhifo, Gao Jianfu, Lv Sibai, Wu Zuoren, Fu Baoshi, Pan Yuliang, and Ma Sicong, as well as renowned art educators and scholars such as Wu Mei, Tang Guizhang, Zong Baihua, Qian Nanyang, Wu Baitao, Chen Zhongfan, Chen Baichen, Chen Shouzhu, and Dong Jian have taught here, nurturing a great number of exceptional talents for the nation.
Development Process. In 1993, Nanjing University founded the Aesthetic Education Teaching and Research Office to offer art elective courses to all undergraduate students. Subsequently, the Culture and Art Education Center was established in 1996 as an independent teaching unit for public art education, building upon the previously established foundation. In 1998, the Sculpture Institute was founded, with Professor Wu Weishan serving as the director. Based on this foundation, the “Fine Arts Institute was later established in 2003. In 2013, the Cultural and Art Education Center and the Art Theory Department of the School of Liberal Arts merged to form the Art Studies Institute. In 2017, the Art Studies Institute was merged with Fine Arts Institute to establish the “School of Arts, Nanjing University, which integrates Art History & Theory, Fine Arts Studies, Drama, Film and Television, Art and Aesthetic Education, Artistic Communication and Cultural Creativity in a comprehensive school.
Institutional Structure. The school comprises departments of Art Theory and Creativity, Art and Design, and Cultural and Artistic Education Center. There are currently 10 research institutes (centers), 1 aesthetic education laboratory, 2 ministerial-level talent training bases, and 2 innovation and entrepreneurship training centers.
Disciplinary Characteristics. The school offers interdisciplinary doctoral program in Art and Culture, academic master's degrees, and professional master's degrees. Academic master's degrees include two majors: Art and Culture，and Fine Arts. The Art and Culture major includes three directions: Art History & Theory and Cultural Studies, Artistic Communication and Cultural Creativity, and Art Education and Cultural Heritage. The Fine Arts major includes five directions: Fine Arts Theory (History), Sculpture, Oil Painting, Chinese Painting, and Calligraphy and Seal Cutting. A professional master's degree in Fine Arts includes four directions: Sculpture, Oil Painting, Chinese Painting, and Calligraphy and Seal Cutting.
Faculty Strength. The school has a dedicated teaching and research team that integrates art theory studies and artistic creation practice. The team comprises 59 members, including 15 professors (10 of whom are doctoral supervisors) and 13 associate professors. Other members include 1 Associate Research Librarian and 13 researchers in the research series. Notably, the team includes one senior professor of liberal arts from Nanjing University, one foreign academician of Academia Europaea, two distinguished professors of the Yangtze River Scholars Award Program of the Ministry of Education, two young scholars, one young top talent, one cultural celebrity and four a batch talent, one leading talent in philosophy and social science, one first-level talent of the 333 Talent Project in Jiangsu Province, three third-level talents, and one 2019 social science talent in Jiangsu Province. Additionally, one member is recognized as a Jiangsu Social Science Outstanding Youth.
Talent Cultivation. The school currently has 209 students on campus, including 57 doctoral students, 152 master's students, and 1 international student. Among the master's students, there are 97 full-time academic masters, 53 full-time professional masters, and 2 part-time professional masters.
In terms of undergraduate teaching, the school undertakes the aesthetic education and public art teaching for all undergraduate students, and offers six core courses in aesthetic education, including literary humanities, visual humanities, music humanities, drama humanities, media humanities, and craft humanities. At the same time, various types of art elective courses are offered, with a total of nearly 90 courses throughout the year. Responsible for the minor program of the Art and Cultural Creativity liberal arts experimental class, with 30 current students from different departments and majors.
Academic Research. The school has gradually formed a core academic team in art history & theory, fine arts, drama, film and television, and art communication research. The team undertakes various scientific research projects, including 5 national major projects (2 National Social Science Foundation major projects, 3 National Social Science Foundation major projects in art), 17 other national level projects, 14 provincial and ministerial level projects, 21 school level projects, and 14 horizontal projects. The cumulative project funding has exceeded 17 million yuan. Teachers publish nearly 100 papers and over ten academic works in first-class journals, CSSCI, and international core journals every year.
Artistic Creation. Our focus in artistic creation has been on developing advantageous majors such as sculpture, oil painting, traditional Chinese painting, and calligraphy. We have cultivated a large number of outstanding artists and achieved high levels of success in artistic creation. Faculty and students have won multiple national art exhibition awards.
Academic Exchange. Internationalization has become a major highlight of the school's academic exchanges. Among the teachers, 8 have obtained overseas doctoral degrees, 2 have doctoral degrees from Hong Kong and Taiwan universities, and 14 have had joint training, long-term visiting, or further education experiences from foreign universities. The school has established close teaching and research cooperation with world-renowned universities. Additionally, the Muse Fund has been established to support graduate students' overseas study tours. The school also holds Overseas Academicians Lecture Hall and Humanities and Arts Lecture Series, and invites foreign academicians and top scholars to come to the school. Furthermore, the school holds nearly 30 academic exchange activities online every year.
Future Vision. The School of Arts at Nanjing University is committed to the motto of Sincerity with Aspiration, Perseverance with Integrity. Leveraging the strength of humanities at Nanjing University, the school integrates art resources from both inside and outside the university, combining theoretical research with practical teaching to cultivate artistic thinkers and thoughtful artists. The school's distinctive educational approach combines professional talent development with public art education. The goal is to create an art education and research team with the style of Nanjing University, Chinese characteristics, and international influence, while making significant contributions to Nanjing University's goal of becoming a world-class university.
