I. Introduction
The aim of constructing the Interdisciplinary Centre for Foreign Literature Studies at Wuhan University of Technology is to leverage the research strength of various departments within the School of Foreign Languages, attract high-level researchers in this field from both inside and outside the university, and conduct high-quality teaching, scientific research and social services. This center studies and evaluates foreign literary theories, ideologies, schools of thought, important writers, and works.It conducts research on basic theories and literary classics, integrates literature with teaching research, closely monitors emerging issues in the discipline and significant contemporary literary phenomena in countries around the world. The centre actively incorporates outstanding results from foreign literary creation and theoretical exploration, and widely engages in academic dialogue and exchange both domestically and internationally. The center also prioritizes academic frontier issues, significant theoretical issues, and practical matters in its construction work, promoting construction of the discipline and the development of China’s socialist civilization. Its goal is to deepen understanding of the differences between Chinese and Western concepts and cultures, draw on the excellent achievements of human civilization, promote the development and prosperity of China’s socialist culture, cultivate outstanding international talents, and enhance the country's cultural soft power.
II. Research Directions
1. Foreign Literature and Theory of Literary Criticism Theories
This field focuses on the frontier of literary studies, researches pressing issues, grasps the latest trends in foreign literary research, reinterprets foreign literary works from fresh and updated perspectives, and address major theoretical and practical issues relevant to the present. The research directions can be summarized in the following aspects: research on classic foreign literary works; national literature and cultural studies; research on Nobel Prize-winning authors and their works; research on literary theory and ideological movements, etc. The centre aims to explore new ideas, methods, and possibilities in foreign literature research, identify and address new problems, and advance new frontiers in academic research.
2. Foreign Literature and Interdisciplinary, Intercultural Studies
This field examines the basic principles, internal laws, and theoretical methods of cross-cultural exchanges and themutualassimilation of world literary cultures. It alsoexplores the theories and methodologies of comparative reference and integrated progress between literature and other disciplines. Since the beginning of the new century, with the deepening of globalization and the rise of cultural conflicts, the construction of a community of shared human destiny has become the central theme of global development. In this context, promoting mutual learning among civilizations and seeking common ground has highlighted the unprecedented importance of interdisciplinary perspectives and practices in literary research, offering a significant opportunity to construct a Chinese discourse system. Research in this area covers interdisciplinary literary studies, including community writing, historical construction, ethical practices, narratives of disease and crisis, consumer culture, ecological landscapes, space and geography, technological civilization development, digital humanities, and the intersection of sound, images, and film and television studies, characterized by interdisciplinarity, cross-genre, and multi-perspective.
3. British and American Literature and Teaching, British and American (Children’s) Literature Teaching and the Development of Comprehensive English Skills for Adolescents and Children
This field aims to explore the development and improvement paths of comprehensive English skillsacross different age groups through teaching British and American literary (reading). The main research areas include: British and American literary teaching theories, methods, and practices; British and American children’s literature and the development of children’s English skills; English reading comprehension and literature teaching; the development of reading and writing skills through British and American literature, etc.The goal is to guide the development of literature and English reading teaching, improve students’ language communication skills and comprehensive application level, promote the comprehensive quality development of students’ mental, emotional, value-based, and literary aesthetic abilities, and cultivate highly competitive international talents. By leveraging the academic resources of higher education to support basic English education, develop specialized literature reading curricula and teacher training systems for different learning stages, actively engage in high-quality social services.
III.Development Plan
The center actively cultivates academic leaders and researchers to form a strong academic team. It also carries out scientific research, exercises scientific research abilities, and improves the level and quality of scientific research by defining key research topics, publishingacademic papers and/or monographs so that scientific research work is targeted, planned, and focused, thus forming a goal-oriented research environment. Specifically, it includes the following four aspects:
1. Cultivating Talents
To form a distinctive literary research profile, the center strives to improve the level and the quality of its scientific research, and establish a teaching and research team with a reasonable structure and strong reserve forces. The Interdisciplinary Center for Literature Studies implements a policy of combining scientific research with talent training, driving high-level talent training with high-quality scientific research work, and improving the level of scientific research with a high-level scientific research talent team. First, it is to build a team of academic leaders and core faculty of young and middle-aged academic backbones. Second, it is the cultivation of graduate students in related directions. The teaching and scientific research work of the center will be combined with the training plan for master’s students, laying the foundation for future doctoral programs. The optimization process of the team will be accelerated, encouraging team members to pursue further studies, improve their academic credentials, and achieve higher professional titles.
2. Conducting Scientific Research
Using scientific research topics as a link, the center organizes the entire team into scientific research echelons in different directions with both collaborative research and individual development. Members will be encouraged to choose professional directions, engage in scientific research, publish high-quality articles, apply for high-level research projects, and participate in high-level academic conferences, thereby creating a vibrant academic atmosphere. The centre will participate in national university research plan, host academic conferences, and establish a professional and comprehensive research database. Regular academic forums or seminars will be held, inviting experts and scholars from inside and outside the school to provide high-level academic lectures for students, and share research results. The center will establish a mechanism for knowledge innovation and keep up with dynamic trends of the discipline’s frontiers to focus on key topics of the discipline, organizing project applications and coordination. The goal is to build a first-class research team and strive for first-class research results.
3. Balancing Development
The center will handle core issues and other research directions in a balanced way, supporting both basic literary research and interdisciplinary research while promoting literary education research at all levels in a planned and focused manner. Ultimately, joint progress and common development will be achieved. Based on the expertise of different researchers, literary research will be combined with the ideological resources and theoretical basis of other disciplines to form a special interpretation path with the center's features, thereby transcending the limited single-disciplinary perspective and developing an interdisciplinary research approach.
4. Offering Social Services
The centre will coordinate its teaching, research, and social services to form a virtuous cycle where these aspects support and promote each other. Literary education is facing challenges from mass culture, the secularization and vulgarization of literature, and the visualization of reading. High-quality reading education requires the integration of literature with education, offering theoretical and practical models for reading education. The centre will actively participate in textbook development, cooperate with social organizations and K12 schools, and leverage high-quality university resources to support primary- and secondary-school-level English reading education. It will develop new literary reading curricula and teacher training programs in reading, establish reading guidance and promotion groups of English literature, organize online public service lectures and forums to share its research results, and drive high-quality social services with academic research.
