The School of Marxism at Beijing Forestry University (BFU) was founded in January 2016, although its history of teaching and research in Marxist theories can be traced back to 1953 as the Politics Teaching and Research Section.
Comprised of four teaching and research sections in, respectively, Principles of Marxism, Mao Zedong Thoughts and Theories of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, Chinese Modern History, and Ideological Education and Basics of Law, the School offers a wide range of courses in politics, ideologies and morality to students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
In addition, it is also engaged in research and academic development, educating people that specialize in Marxist theories, as well as providing social services. The section of Principles of Marxism served consecutively in the 1st and 2nd sessions as the president-organization as well as the secretariat for the Marxism Principles Association, an affiliate of Beijing Higher Education Research Society. It was also appointed the honorary president- and vice-president-organization for the Association’s 3rd session.
The School has a faculty of 38 full-time teachers, including 6 professors, 25associate professors and 6 assistant professors, many of whom have PhD degrees.
The faculty enjoys recognition both from the society and on campus for their distinguished performance in teaching as well as in enhancing students in all-round quality. Our teachers have won numerous awards including the national-level Excellent Teacher of Politics and Moral Education, Master Teacher at the level of Beijing Municipality, nominee for University Teachers of the Year 2013 in Politics and Moral Education, recipient of the State Council Allowance for the highly-recognized, and Exemplary University Moral Educators in Beijing. Two teachers rank among the Top 10 lists of “My Most Favored Teacher at BFU”, and many more successively made their way into the Top 10 lists in the University’s Teaching Assessment.
The School highlights teaching and teaching-centered research as a priority of its work. Over the years since 2010, it has produced a State-level MOOC course, 6 university-level Vintage Courses, and 6 of its teachers have been awarded with various prizes in the Contests for University Teachers of Politics and Moral Education Courses. In addition to the above-mentioned achievements, the School has carried out about thirty research projects for improving university education at both municipal/ministerial and university levels.
The School’s faculty have fully demonstrated their competitiveness in implementing large-scale research projects. Since 2010, 24 research projects, with 3 funded by the State Funds for Social Sciences, 3 by the Ministry of Education, and 18 by Beijing Municipality, have been implemented with great success. Of the last category, 8 are themed on improving the political and moral quality of university students in the capital city, and another one, entitled “Research on the Construction of Green Beijing”, is listed by the government of Beijing among the prioritized key research projects in philosophy and social sciences. On top of the above-mentioned, the School has also collaborated closely with the Central Committee of the Youth League, the State Forestry Administration, and the Bureau of Landscape and Forestry of Beijing to carry out a wide array of joint research projects. To date, the total amount of projects undertaken by the School adds up to 106, translating into RMB11,136,800 in total funds.
Currently, the School focuses chiefly on postgraduate education programs in 2 second-category disciplines, i.e. Principles of Marxism, and Politics and Moral Education, both of which have been enrolling students since 2004. Preparative efforts are under way to apply for accreditation to offer the first-category discipline in Principles of Marxism, which covers a wider range of master’s programs.
In the new era marked by bursting developments in ideological and theoretical innovation, the School of Marxism is well-positioned to forge further ahead in academic development, teaching renovation as well as in capacity-building for its academic faculty, in order to strengthen its overall competitiveness and influence in the relevant field.
< Update: September,2016 >