Chinese Modern and Contemporary History

The discipline of Chinese Modern and Contemporary History of CCNU was founded in the early 1960s. In 1979, it began to enroll MA candidates. In the early 1980s, People's Press published three-volume History of 1911 Revolution edited by Prof. Zhang Kaiyuan, which symbolizes the formation of the discipline of Chinese Modern and Contemporary History. In 1983, it was approved by the Academic Degrees Committee under the State Council of the right to grant PhD degree. In 1988, it was cited as the National Key Discipline among the first batch. In 1995, with the motivation of this discipline, History Department of CCNU became the National Basic Science Research and Educational Talents Cultivation Base of liberal arts. In 2000, the subject Chinese Modern and Contemporary History where this discipline stands were awarded as “Ministry of Education Key Research Base of Humanities and Social sciences in Universities and Colleges”. In 2001, it was cited again as the National Key Discipline and it was in the same year that it built its own postdoctoral station. In 2007, again, it passed the evaluation and was cited as the national key discipline.

Focusing on the “point” of Revolution of 1911, this discipline pushes forward research on Chinese modern and contemporary political history, economic history and ideological and cultural history so that a “field” came into being. It also provides historical lessons for our national economic and cultural construction through learning from modern and contemporary social transformation. At the same time, three research directions are formed: modern and contemporary China's economic development and social change, the transformation and development of modern and contemporary Chinese society, modern and contemporary cultural exchange and interaction. At present, it has a faculty of 20 members. Among them there are 15 professors, 1 state-level expert who has outstanding contributions, 1 first-level scholar of Millions of Talents Project of Ministry of Personnel as well as 4 Ministry of Education Century (New Century) Excellent Talents.

In the previous 5 years, this discipline undertook 32 projects of various kinds, which included 10 National Fund in Social Science projects(projectssupported by National Social Science Foundation）, 10 projects of Ministry of Education Key Research Base and 8 provincial and ministerial social science projects. The total fund reached 8 million yuan. It published (including editing) more than 40 books in Zhonghua Book Company, China Social Sciences Publishing House and People's Press. It also released almost 200 papers in major journals like Social Sciences in China and A Study of History. These achievements won provincial and ministerial Excellent Achievement Prize for many times, among which were 2 first prizes of Provincial and Ministerial Excellent Achievement Prize for Humanities and Social Science, 3 second prizes and 2 third prizes.

During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, it made great and influential progress in academic exchange home and abroad. It organized 5 international symposiums and 4 national ones. 52 scholars (also the number of lectures) of China and other countries are invited to give lectures. 163 (also the times) of its faculty members attended domestic and international meetings or paid visits to foreign countries, 65 of which were important. International collaboration was further strengthened, involving 7 projects. Besides, it successfully held "2009 Summer School of Chinese Modern and Contemporary History” and it was warmly received.