A section of History was set up when Nankai University was founded in 1919. Liang Qichao, the well-known social activist and a great master of learning, came offering lectures to a history class. It was in 1932 that the Department of History was formally established and chaired by the well-known scholar Jiang Tingfu. During the Anti-Japanese War, Nankai University was ordered to move to the south and merged with Peking University and Tsinghua University to form the Southwest Associated University. The departments of history of the three universities were integrated into one then, too. In 1952, with the implement of the revision of colleges and the divisions of the universities, Professor Zheng Tianting, the former secretary-general of Peking University and Chair of the Department of History, Peking University, and Professor Lei Haizong, the former Chair of Department of History, Tsinghua University, were transferred to Nankai University one after another. Then, the history discipline had reached an unprecedented period of development at Nankai. Ever since the Reform and Open Policy, history discipline has been cheered up to full of vitality. The foundation of College of History in October 2000 has opened an opportunity for an innovative development of the history discipline at Nankai.
Founded in October 2000, College of History is a separate and professional college of first-class discipline, with Professor Chen Zhiqiang as the Dean and Researcher Men Lianfeng as the Secretary of the College Party Committee of the CPC. There are 9 teaching and researching divisions: Department of History, Department of World History, Department of Cultural Relics and Museoloy, Institute of Historical Research, Institute Modern and Contemporary Chinese History, Institute of Chinese Ancient Books and Culture, Institute of American History and Culture, Center for Latin American Studies. There is an attached National Center for Chinese Social History, one of Ministry of Education’s key research centers for social sciences.
There are 86 teachers and researchers in the college: 41 professors (including 35 doctoral supervisors), 38 associate professors, 16 lecturers; 63 faculty members have ph. D. degree, 1 is member of Evaluation Group of Academic Discipline of the American Degree Evaluation Committee under the State Council, 1 is member of the National Planning Group for Philosophy and Social Sciences, 3 are member of Advice Committee for History Teaching under the Ministry of Education,16 are holding the positions of president or vice president in national academic associations, 1 is selected into Hundred, Thousand, and Ten Thousand Excellent Scholars Project (above the second level), 2 are selected into Trans-century Outstanding Scholar Award Project, 5 received Ministry of Education’s one Higher Education Excellent Young Teacher Award, 2 are selected into Ministry of Education’s Aid Project for Excellent Young Teacher. There are 731 students in total: 297 undergraduates, 219 MA candidates, and 215 ph. D. Candidates, including 13 foreign students. There are 18 past-doctoral researchers in addition.
The fine academic tradition of history discipline at Nankai has been formed as Qiu Zen (find facts), Qiu Xin (be innovative), Qiu Tong (be comprehensive), and Qiu Yong (learn for use). Generations of colleagues have insisted on seeking truth from facts, being innovative academically, and laying emphases on having a holistic and global approach to both Chinese history and foreign histories and achieving a thorough understanding of ancient times and modern times in order to further the flourish of history study and to promote social progress.
Since the Reform of Open Policy, scholars in middle and young ages have grown up rapidly and many of them have been among the new generation of well-known scholars in history circles. Many of their publications and researchers were awarded at national or Tianjin municipal levels and national academic associations for humanities and social sciences. Fu Zhenlun, Shi Shuqing, Li Xueqin, Cai Meibiao, Pang Pu, Li Huibing and many other well-known scholars at home were engaged as part-time professors and Du Weiming, Eric Foner, Yukio Yam ane, Keilchi Eguchi and many other well-known foreign scholars were engaged as guest professors. The college has established broaden and close academic cooperation and exchange with academic organizations in foreign countries and with those in China’s Taiwan and Hong Kong regions.
College of history has become one of the national centers for history teaching and research because of its strong faculty and proper balance of academic disciplines with noticeable academic characteristics.
The fine academic tradition of history discipline at Nankai has been formed as Qiu Zen (find facts), Qiu Xin (be innovative), Qiu Tong (be comprehensive), and Qiu Yong (learn for use). Generations of colleagues have insisted on seeking truth from facts, being innovative academically, and laying emphases on having a holistic and global approach to both Chinese history and foreign histories and achieving a thorough understanding of ancient times and modern times in order to further the flourish of history study and to promote social progress.
