School of English Studies
With a history that dates back to 1956, the School of English Studies (SES), formerly the Department of English, is one of the oldest, the largest, and the most academically accomplished colleges at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). The SES presently offers two Bachelor of Arts degree programs, namely BA in English Language and Literature and BA in Translation and Interpreting. The SES established the BA program in English Language and Literature in 1956, and added a Master of Arts degree program in 1980 and a doctorate degree program in 1983. Major honors won by the faculty include the title of “Shanghai Leading Discipline” in 1996 and again in 2001, “National Key Discipline” in 2002 and “National Featured Specialty” in 2008. Taking advantage of the rich resources of the school, the relatively new program of BA in Translation and Interpreting has also come a long way since its founding in 2007. Thanks to the work of generations of devoted and knowledgeable faculty members, the SES has become a leader of the English discipline in China and prepared generations of English majors for a sustainable career contributive to the development of the country. The SES has a multi-layered and multi-directional program system. In addition to the BA, MA and PhD programs, it also has a Post-Doctoral Station. On the postgraduate level, the School offers studies in 13 different directions for doctorate candidates and 8 for MA candidates. The SES currently has about 600 BA students, 600 MA students and 150 doctorate students.
Upholding the spirit of “pragmatism, initiative, innovation and pursuit of excellence”, the SES has been able to preserve its time-honored strict and thorough teaching tradition, and at the same time, stand in the forefront of the innovation and reform of English education in China. As evidenced by the school’s winning of multiple teaching achievement awards, the school’s efforts have been acknowledged at both municipal and national levels. Apart from teaching, the SES is also known for the research accomplishments of its faculty members, many of whom have undertaken major research projects at municipal and national levels. In recent years, the SES faculty members have published at home and abroad over 400 research papers and over 80 academic monographs, textbooks, dictionaries and works of translation, many of which have won awards from Shanghai Federation of Social Science Association, National Social Science Fund of China and China’s Ministry of Education.
The SES’s rigorous and specialized training has equipped its BA students with a mastery of the five principle skills of an English major, i.e. listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating. SES students have a leading pass rate of over 98% at TEM-4 and TEM-8 (Test for English Major, Band 4 & Band 8). In addition, each year, a considerable number of the students are admitted to the school’s graduate program directly because of their outstanding comprehensive performance. Over 90% of the students who sat for the national postgraduate entrance exam were able to get admission to the MA program of the SES. The students’ remarkable academic performance owes a great deal to the diligent work of the faculty members, who, with their cross-discipline background, have been offering a wide range of elective courses on humanistic subjects, including philosophy, mythology, religion, English literature, art, western and eastern culture, cross-cultural comparison, cross-cultural communication and western movies. These courses have broadened the students’ horizons and developed their critical faculties in more ways than one. In recent years, many of the SES’s BA graduates have been admitted for further studies by prestigious universities in the country, including Peking University, Fudan University, Nanjing University and Nankai University, and in a wide variety of majors, including philosophy, history, foreign literature, international relations, law, finance, journalism and communications. In addition, many have been admitted to top-notch institutions overseas, such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Columbia University, Monterey Institute of Translation, Oxford University, Cambridge University, University of London, Imperial College London, University of Tokyo, Hautes études commerciales de Paris and the University of Melbourne.
As to the employment prospects, the SES graduates have always been much sought after and has alumni all over the world, with their competences much valued by employers and society at large.
In terms of social services, the SES has undertaken a large number of important training, testing and translation projects at municipal and national levels, including TEM-4 and TEM-8, Shanghai Public English Test, Shanghai Interpretation Accreditation Test, Business English Certificate Test (BEC), Self-study Examination and English Test for China’s National College Entrance Examinations. In addition, the school has assisted the organization of and provided translation service for major events, such as the 1999 Fortune Global Forum (hosted by the Shanghai government), the APEC Summit, Shanghai International Art Festival, and it has also played a crucial role through its translation support in Shanghai’s bid to host the 2010 World Exposition. By taking on its social responsibility, the SES have made significant contribution to the economic and social development at both municipal and national levels.
