British Studies Centre
The British Studies Centre at SEIS, BFSU was established in 1989 under the auspices of the Ministry of Education of China with sponsorship of the British Council. The graduate programme it offers has developed into one of the leading programmes for British studies in China’s institutions of higher learning. The Centre is dedicated to teaching and research of British politics, history, society, foreign policy, economy, and culture. It has made great efforts to promote the studies in the fields. Over the past twenty five years, it has produced approximately 170 graduates with MA degree in British Studies. Many of them are working on key posts in universities and colleges, research institutes, publishing houses, media organizations, and economic and trade entities, who have won recognition for a good command of English, a solid knowledge base and an ability of undertaking research independently. Currently, the Centre enrolls about 8-10 new MA students and 1-2 PhD students every year. In addition to the graduate programme, it also offers some courses for undergraduates such as British Society and Culture, and English Language Films.
Faculty Members
| Name | Title | Research Areas |
| Zhong Meisun | Professor | British History |
| Shi Tongyun | Professor | British Culture, British Films |
| Wang Zhanpeng | Professor | British Politics, European Integration |
| Shen Yi | Associate Professor | British Economy |
| Zhang Xiaoying | Associate Professor | British Media |
| Song Yunfeng | Associate Professor | British Society, British Films |
Over the past years, a dozen foreign experts have given lectures to the Centre’s students. Moreover, lectures are given on a regular basis by renowned Chinese and foreign scholars to update the developments in British studies.
Faculty’s publications range from textbooks and monographs on the UK (e.g. English-Speaking Countries: A Survey, Britain and its Changing Role in the World, and Transnational Democracy and its Limits: A Study of the EU Constitutional Process) to a great number of academic papers in some leading academic journals such as Chinese Journal of European Studies, International Forum, Journal of Beijing Film Academy, and Film Art.
In 2011, the British Studies Centre was approved as one of the national centres for country and area studies funded by the Chinese Ministry of Education. As part of the efforts to build a multi-disciplinary academic platform for British studies in China, the centre is further expanding its research and strengthening its ties with academic institutions at home and abroad. The priorities on its research agenda include British party politics, and economic governance, British foreign policy, Sino-British relations (including people-to-people exchanges), and British culture. In November 2012, the Centre hosted the 7th Annual Conference (2012) of the Society of British Studies of the Chinese Association for European Studies. In 2013, it launched the Project of “Development Report of the United Kingdom” and published its first annual report. Moreover, partnership has been established with the Chinese Association for European Studies (CAES), Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IES , CASS), and China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR). Faculty and student exchanges have been developed with British universities, including Lancaster University, University of Edinburgh, and Bangor University.
