Journalism and communication education in East China Normal University has a long history. In 1920, the Journalism Department of St. John’s College was founded, thus initiating the higher education of Asian journalism. In 1925, part of teachers and students left St. John’s college and founded Kwang Hua University. Inheriting the philosophy of practice from St. John’s Journalism Department, the Department of Journalism in Kwang Hua University was infused with intense patriotism. Meanwhile, Great China University set up journalism education and founded the earliest Advertising Department in 1928. Journalism and communication education of Kwang Hua University and Great China University fostered many talents. Ge Gongzhen, Wang Yingbin, Xie Liuyi and Lu Meiseng and many other distinguished teachers had taught in the School and fostered many outstanding journalists including Deng Tuo, Chu Anping, Zhang Zhiqin. In 1952, East China Normal University was founded with the merger of Kwang Hua University, Great China University and some other universities. In 1992, ECNU began to offer the program of Broadcasting & TV Director. The Department of Communication was found in 2002. In 2004, School of Communication was founded. Having survived the test of time and the era, journalism and communication education of ECNU upholds the idea of emphasizing patriotism and practice, and keeps pace with the times.
School of Communication offers four programs, of Broadcasting and Television, Journalism, Advertising, and Publication and Culture. It now offers: 5 undergraduate majors of Broadcasting & TV Director, Broadcasting & Hosting, Journalism, Advertising, Editing & Publication; 3 master’s programs of, Drama and Film Studies, Journalism, and Communication; and 3 professional master’s programs on Journalism and Communication, Fine Arts (Broadcasting and Television), and Publication. It has 2 master’s programs of first-level discipline on Journalism & Communication, and on Drama and Film Studies; and 1 doctoral program of first-level discipline on Journalism & Communication.
Now School of Communication includes 6 professors, 24 associate professors, and 19 other faculty members including lecturers, laboratory staff and administrative staff. The School is comprised of 1 Zijing Distinguished professor, 1 lifetime professor, 3 selected into New Century Excellent Talents Project, 5 chosen by “Shanghai Pujiang Program”. School of Communication has made a great achievement in research. In past five years, the School has successfully applied for 1 major project supported by the National Social Science Fund, 1 major commission project supported by the National Social Science Fund, 8 projects supported by the National Social Science Fund and 25 projects supported by Provincial and Ministerial Humanities and Social Science Fund. In the recent five years, academic research funds have amounted to RMB 14.696 million, including RMB 5.642 million funds for government sponsored research. In past five years, School of Communication have published 441 papers in academic journals of home and abroad, among which 308 papers are published in journals included in CSSCI. Moreover, 37 academic works and 28 study and consulting reports have been published. Meanwhile, it has obtained 7 research awards.
School of Communication attaches importance to nurturing talents. It is striving to further improve and promote workshop-type talents training mode which combines teaching, research and learning; to further enrich and enhance the building of training mode innovative experimental areas for talents of Journalism and Communication, Film and Television, and New Media; and to further consolidate and enrich joint training mode of famous colleges and enterprises from home and abroad. The School has cooperated with many media sectors, such as Xinhua News Agency Shanghai Bureau, Shanghai United Media Group, Radio and Television Shanghai, and has made an achievement. School of Communication and Radio & Television Shanghai jointly initially built four studios of hosts, including Cao Kefan Studio, Yin Hairong Studio, Luo Xin Studio and Chen Rong Studio. Since December in 2017, Publicity Ministry of Shanghai Municipal Committee of CPC and ECNU has worked together to build the School of Journalism. The School has connected with Radio and Television Shanghai to speed up the training of all-media reserve talents.
School of Communication has established long-term full and deep partnership in exchange visits of teachers and students with more than 20 world-famous educational and scientific research institutions of Journalism and Communication, including Missouri School of Journalism, Medill School of Northwestern University, Communication Department of UB, Purdue University, University of California, University of Delaware, Pace University, Lehigh University, University of Leeds, Loughborough University, Nottingham Trent University. The School has also built partnership with Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong. Moreover, it has signed agreements about research cooperation and exchange visits of teachers and students with National Taiwan Normal University, Shih Hsin University, and Chinese Culture University and so on. School of Communication has enrolled many international students from USA, Japan, South Korea, Republic of Belarus, Ukraine, Republic of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, etc. In addition, every year, there are more than 10 exchange students from other domestic universities, such as Sun Yat-sen University, Shandong University, Ming Chuan University, National Taiwan Normal University, Chinese Culture University.
School of Communication founded Shanghai Student Television Festival, an important sub-project of the Shanghai TV Festival. It established the International Summit Forum on Spoken Communication, the Summit Forum on the Integration of Traditional Media and Emerging Media, and established Institute of Marxism Communication in Asia, ECNU.
Journalism and Communication offered by the School ranks B+ in the fourth discipline assessment initiated by the Ministry of Education. School of Communication launches stagger competition with Journalism and Communication colleges of other universities, highlighting its own characteristics. It tries to construct the development pattern of “big communication” and to form the disciplinary predominance of “big communication”. With the rapid growth of global cultural communication and new media, the School is striving to combine Journalism and Communication, and Drama and Film Studies with Education, Psychology, Sociology, Culture, Computer Networking Technology and other related disciplines. The School focuses on the development of visual culture and cross-cultural communication, education journalism communication and new media, advertising and media economics, film and television art and communication, editing and publication and media culture research. It tries to expand research space of Journalism & Communication and Drama and Film Studies. It aims to enrich the new essence of Journalism & Communication, and Drama and Film Studies. It is striving to make special contribution to the growth of Journalism & Communication, and Drama and Film studies, and the communication industry.
