From the start of post-graduate intercultural teaching (1999) at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) and especially since the SISU Intercultural Institute (SII) was established (in 2006), our IC team and students have been greatly enriched by Guest Professor visits and seminars. When the Chinese national Foreign Experts Bureau (FEB) launched its “High-end Specially Invited Professor Project” program, SII Director Steve J. Kulich was one of the early recipients (2014-2016). The institute team worked together with that platform to develop one of the first FEB “Cultural and Educational High-end Foreign Expert Group Projects.” Under this funded program, three noted professors were invited to participate annually (2015-2017): Prof. Dharm Bhawuk (University Hawaii, Manoa), Prof. Darla Deardorff (Duke University, North Carolina) and Prof. Yan Bing Zhang (University of Kansas, Lawrence). 

Dharm Bhawuk (left) and Steve Kulich (right) consult with a doctoral student on her dissertation

Each visit has focused on bringing their unique backgrounds and approaches (cross-cultural psychology, international education, and intergroup communications) to further develop intercultural research methods training and the study of intercultural competence in Chinese contexts. The cooperation and collaboration with each of these scholars has continued on long past that first project with annual Key Professor visits every year.

Darla Deardorff interacting with Michael Steppat (another regular contributor to the institute)

This year, from December 14th - 16th, the institute once again welcomed Yan Bing Zhang, where she held a 3-day intensive seminar entitled: “Intercultural Intergroup Theories" for MA, PhD students and Visiting Scholars working with Steve Kulich or Zhang Hongling, as well as intensive interaction with SII Research Fellows like Assoc. Prof. Weng Liping and Assoc. Prof. Chi Ruobing. The seminar provided intensive exposure to seminal published research based on influential inter-group and intercultural communication theories.

Prof. Zhang's Previous Lectures

Why do we need or how do we best use theory? Prof. Zhang believes that "theories guide research, and their functions range from description, explanation, prediction, to control. They also serve as an equipment for living. They help us understand human communication, social cognition, and psychology.”

Li Xianglian, one of the students who attended Zhang's workshops, feels she has benefited greatly from the training "Theories are different perspectives - they offer diverse angles of seeing the same phenomenon. When we adopt one theory, we are also adopting its related theoretical perspective. It is fair to say that the more theories one masters, the more one will tend to be inclusive and flexible. She (Prof. Zhang) reminds us that when we adopt a theory, its theoretical scope must be taken into account. Otherwise clarity may become an issue."

Prof. Yan Bing Zhang clearly has a passion for understanding each theory as it is relevant to specific research questions. She seeks to help students find effective ways to operationalize it into a focused research design (specifically, how to develop theory-based questions with reasonable predictions or hypotheses).

Prof. Zhang's Workshop

Student Ding Yaxin said excitedly, "After Professor Zhang's lectures, I strongly realize that learning about new theories is a long and explorable journey! It is far from enough to just bear the description of a theory in mind; we should keep asking questions while we are reading new theories: what is the core concept? what can it do for us in our own research? It is imporant to have an impression about a theory, because it might be applicable in our future writing, and the point is, keep reading, thinking and writing down our own ideas!" 

Prof. Zhang's three day workshop ran from 9am to 5pm, with the classroom fully packed with students and teachers each day. 

PhD candidate Li Xiaoyuan summarized, “Three things I learned most about theory in Prof. Yan Bing Zhang's workshop include: Theories work under paradigms and have certain scopes that shape the questions they address, the phenomena they explore, and the worldview they represent; Theories work with each other in our intercultural field that seeks a multidisciplinary approach to reform past paradigms; Theories, aside from engaging us in philosophical interactions, need to be practical and realistic so that our daily life is relevant, and people living outside of our direct vicinity are being cared about. These drives keep scholars and students moving on in understanding the world better with (improved) theories. Rule of the game: be specific in using a theory, and be critical in localizing one."

Students boarding the shuttle for Zhang's workshop from Songjiang campus to Hongkou campus

The SII team are eager for the ongoing contributions of these and other Guest Professors as we work together to develop stronger IC research in China and international partnerships! Researchers interested in collaborating can contact us at icinstitute@shisu.edu.cn