The School of Foreign Studies of China University of Petroleum (East China) originated from the Public Courses Teaching and Research Group of Beijing Petroleum Institute established in 1953. In 1954, a Russian Language Teaching and Research Section was set up. The Department of Foreign Languages was established in May 1989, and the School of Foreign Studies was founded in May 2002. In May 2011, the School of Foreign Studies was merged with the Law Department, Chinese Department, and Art Department of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences to form the School of Liberal Arts. In December 2019, the School of Foreign Studies was re-established as an independent entity. It is renowned as “the origin of the National College English Test (CET) Band 4 and Band 6”.
The School currently comprises five teaching departments: the Department of English Language and Literature, the Department of Russian Language and Literature, the Department of English for General Purposes, the Department of English for Academic Purposes, and the Department of Teaching Foreign Languages for Postgraduate Students. It offers a secondary discipline Ph.D. program in Language Service Engineering and Management (with three research directions: Data Engineering and Management for International Public Opinion Governance, Data Engineering and Management for Emergency Language Services, and Smart Engineering and Management for Language Health), a first-level discipline master’s degree program in Foreign Languages and Literatures (with four specializations: Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Translation Studies, Foreign Literature, and Language Intelligence and Global Governance), and a professional master’s degree program in Translation (including English Translation and Interpretation, Russian Translation, and Japanese Translation). The School offers two undergraduate majors in English and Russian, as well as seven non-commonly taught languages: Russian, Japanese, French, German, Korean, Arabic, and Spanish. In 2022, the English major was approved as a National First-Class Undergraduate Program, and the Russian major was approved as a Provincial First-Class Undergraduate Program.
The School is equipped with several provincial and ministerial-level platforms, including the Ministry of Education’s High-level International Talent Innovation and Practice Base, the “Smart Language Service Laboratory” (one of the most advanced psycholinguistic laboratories in China, equipped with eye trackers, ERP systems, TMS, and a 120-square-meter smart seminar room) under the Shandong Provincial Universities’ Humanities Laboratory program, the Shandong Provincial Research Center for Exchange and Cooperation with Russian-speaking Countries along the “Belt and Road”, the Shandong Provincial Research Center for Exchange and Cooperation with Canada, and the “International Language Service Research Center” under the Shandong Provincial Foreign Affairs Research and Development Think Tank. The School also boasts advanced teaching and research facilities such as multifunctional language laboratories, simultaneous interpretation laboratory, computer-assisted foreign language translation laboratory (equipped with CAT softwares such as Trados, MemoQ, and Yicat at 70 stations), multimodal language laboratory, and a smart teaching platform.
The School currently has 127 faculty members, including 5 foreign teachers from countries such as the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Russia. Among them, there are 2 High-Level Talented Personnel in Shandong Province, 1 Taishan Scholar Youth Expert, 1 Shandong Provincial Teaching Master, 1 “President of the International Society (the World Chinese Rhetoric Society)”, 1 “CNKI Top 1% Highly Cited Scholars”, 1 Leading Talent in Qingdao, and 3 Qingdao Teaching Masters. Additionally, there are 2 Shandong Provincial Youth Innovation Teams for Scientific Research, 1 Shandong Provincial Excellent Teaching Team, and 2 Qingdao Philosophy and Social Sciences Youth Talent Teams.
Since the 1980s, the School has taken the lead in reforming college English teaching nationwide, garnering four national teaching achievement awards, one special prize, and seven first prizes for provincial teaching achievement awards, among other significant educational accomplishments. In 2011, it was approved as a demonstration site for college English teaching reform by the Ministry of Education. In the past five years, the School has received two provincial and ministerial-level excellent teaching achievement awards and undertaken 25 projects at the provincial, ministerial, and national levels, including projects funded by the National Social Science Fund and the Ministry of Education’s Humanities and Social Sciences Fund. Furthermore, the School has added three courses as Shandong Provincial Ideological and Political Education Demonstration Courses and Shandong Provincial First-Class Undergraduate Courses, published over 40 academic works and more than 60 high-level papers in SSCI, A&HCI, and other reputable journals.
The School adheres to the principle of developing specialized programs in an open manner, actively promoting international exchanges and cooperation. It has established cooperative relationships with over 40 universities in Russia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Central Asia. It carries out joint training programs such as “3+1”, “1+1+1”, “2+2”, and “4+X” collaborative education models. The School has been approved for two projects under the Country and Area Studies Talent Support Program. Additionally, the School has established teaching and internship bases with 20 units, including the China-ASEAN Center, the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area, and BERIS Engineering and Research Corporation. It has also set up the “China University of Petroleum (East China) SCO Energy and Humanities Research Center” in the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area and established a joint education and training base for the Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) program in Russian with Belgorod State University in Russia.
The School actively engages with society to enhance its service capabilities. It has established several key centers including the “International Talent English Exam Evaluation Center” under the China Foreign Language Testing Center’s talent cultivation program, the “Chinese Legal English Teaching and Research Test Base”, and the “Practical Teaching Service Center”. The School is committed to its mission of nurturing more composite talent with a strong sense of national pride, a global perspective, and professional expertise. It regards volunteer service as a primary platform for implementing the School’s “dual-wheel drive” strategy, which aims to serve national strategies and regional development. Volunteer service also serves as a crucial means of ideological and political education, as well as practical education for students. The School organizes teachers and students to actively participate in various fields such as event services, cultural dissemination, rural revitalization, and caring for children. Through volunteer service, the School guides its members to cultivate a sense of national pride and the courage to take on responsibilities. The School’s teams and individuals have received numerous honors, including the Special Prize for the Red Theme in the “Challenge Cup” National College Students’ Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition, the Gold Award in the China Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition, the Outstanding Project Award and Outstanding Individual Award from the China Youth Volunteers Association, and the Gold Award in the Shandong Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition. The School’s volunteer service efforts have been widely recognized and reported by authoritative media outlets such as CCTV, People’s Daily, and xueqi.cn.
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the School has deeply promoted the “Integration and Dual Excellence” initiative, fulfilled the fundamental task of cultivating students’ moral character and fostering talent, and strived to build a Party-building brand with foreign language features. It has been honored with titles such as “Outstanding Primary Party Organization in Shandong Province”, “Youth Civilization Unit of China National Petroleum Corporation”, “March 8th Red Banner Collective among Shandong Higher Education Institutions”, and “Exemplary Post for Female Employees’ Contributions in the Shandong Education System”. In August 2020, the 8th episode of the nationwide “Battle Against COVID-19” micro Party lecture series featured the School’s faculty team’s efforts in “Combating the Epidemic with Translation and Sharing China’s Experience with the World”, which was broadcast on platforms such as Guangming Online, Xinhuanet, xuexi.cn, the National University Ideological & Political Work Net, and yangshipin.cn. The “Foreign Language Corner of UPC” series of events received coverage from media outlets such as Xinhuanet, xuexi.cn, and China Education News. In 2021, the Russian Department’s Party Branch was recognized as an advanced primary Party organization in the Shandong education system. In 2023 and 2024, it was selected as the Party Building Work Model Branch Cultivation and Creation Unit in Shandong Province and nationwide respectively, and won the first prize in the “Me and My Party Branch” competition among provincial universities in 2024.
