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ISU and the University of Batreuth (UB) signed a cooperation agreement to launch a dual bachelor’s degree program in German Language and Literature and Economics on December 7th, the day before SISU’s 70th anniversary.
Previously, SISU had a joint bachelor’s and master’s program with the UB in German Language and Literature and Economics. The program started in 2000 and has since cultivated over 400 interdisciplinary talents who were able to obtain a master’s degree in German Economics and were competent at cross-cultural communication and area studies. Over the years, known for its outstanding quality, the program has been reported by German media many times and attracted great attention from the business and educational circles of both countries. The program also won the first prize of Shanghai Higher Educational Achievements and the Outstanding Program Award presented by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD).
The new dual degree program marks the beginning of a new phase of China-Germany cooperation in higher education. It embodies the progress SISU made in pursuit of its objective to become a “Double First-Class” university characterized by new liberal arts education and a “Mutilingual+” initivative. In recent years, the university has been exploring ways to develop more comprehensively, combining its long-celebrated tradition of foreign language teaching with the new developments in across the spectrum of social sciences, including economics, legal studies, journalism and communication, and in cutting-edge areas like digitalization and artificial intelligence.
Professor Schafer, supervisor of the program and the head of the Business Administration of the University of Bayreuth, introduced the training mode of the new program: The focus of the first three semesters is on language studies, in both German and English, at SISU. From the fourth semester on, they will study economics and business administration. The courses are co-designed by the two universities. Then, the students will continue their study in Germany, preparing for their final year of classes and dissertation writing back at SISU. Students who meet the standards will be granted two bachelor’s degrees, one in German Language and Literature from SISU and one in Business Administration from the UB.
Besides, those who meet the requirements of postgraduate admission can continue their study at the University of Bayreuth for a master’s degree in Economics, which allows them to receive the same high quality postgraduate education that SISU and the UB were able to provide for over 20 years through the previous program.
Embodying the principle of pragmatics and student-orientation, this training mode enables students to efficiently enhance their language skills while systematically developing a knowledge of the professional field.
Compared with the previous program, the new dual degree program is more intensive while being flexible in terms of duration of study. Those who have completed the program can choose to pursue postgraduate education either at the UB or any schools of their own choosing, or join the job market directly.
The article is translated by Huang Yuhong and Li Xiaoyi, and proofread by Lu Yuyang, members of the Translation Association of the School of English Studies (SESTA) at Shanghai International Studies University. For use of the content, please contact: ses_translators@163.com.
