April 2023

Dr. GONG Weigang also shared with everyone that he was a team member of the aforementioned major research project on computational social science that I co-developed. His question caught my attention. After the lecture, I followed Dr Gong to his office. Gong showed me his collections of data resources (right in the top photo), for example, approximately 5 million volumes of English text corpora from 1800-1900, basic information of 2.1 million Twitter users, 5 billion historical tweets since 2019, 3 billion historical Twitter keyword data, 530 million basic user information on Facebook, 400 million basic user information on LinkedIn, 13TB of global online public opinion data, and 1.4 billion web page news headlines and text content. Based on analyzing the data, their team published some journal articles, such as ‘Media Hegemony, Cultural Circle, and the Global Dissemination of the Orientalist Discourse: Taking Public Opinion on China in GDELT as an Example,’ by GONG Weigang, ZHU Meng, ZHANG Sai, and LUO Jiaojiang, in Sociological Studies, vol. 5, 2019.

On the morning of April 11th, I delivered a seminar to the faculty of the Sociology Department at Nankai University, titled ‘How Chinese Social Sciences Contribute to the Construction of Humanity’s Edifice of Knowledge.’ Focusing on leveraging China’s academic contributions globally, I emphasized the importance of Chinese social sciences’ participation in constructing the global knowledge system. I highlighted significant milestones, such as the influential works published by Chinese scholars when China was the ‘market focus’ at the 2012 London Book Fair. I also reflected on my experiences and observations at academic forums, critiquing the neglect of methodological rigor in discussions about transforming Beijing into a global academic center. My talk presented the evolution of Chinese social sciences, emphasizing the challenges and opportunities presented by big data for qualitative and quantitative research, and spotlighted the emergence of computational social science and the application of corpus methodologies as innovative approaches to social science research. The goal was to showcase the evolving landscape of the social sciences in China and their impact on global academic discourse.

Professor ZHAO Wanli (on the right of me in the bottom photo), the Deputy Dean of the Zhou Enlai School of Government, chaired the seminar. In response to the challenges, he introduced some young generation scholars in the faculty who have received international training and expressed hope that future collaborations would be strengthened. Professor WANG Bingyu (on my right in the top right photo), obtained her PhD from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and has been working as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (JEMS) since 2021. She expressed her willingness for further discussion and collaborations.

On the afternoon of April 11th, I delivered a lecture to the faculty and students of the Sociology Department at Nankai University. The lecture was titled ‘A Text Analysis Method in the Era of Big Data: Corpus-Assisted Research Based on Case Studies’. It explored the application of corpus methodology in the social sciences and humanities, specifically focusing on the Chinese context. The lecture provided an overview of ‘Corpus Approaches to Social Science’, demonstrating how large-scale electronic text analysis can reveal patterns, substantiate theories, and inform research direction. I detailed various types of corpora, analytical tools, and case studies, including the digitalization of Chinese medical classics and critical discourse analysis. It highlights the integration of corpus linguistics with social science methodologies, demonstrating the potential for deepening understanding of complex social phenomena through quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Professor ZHANG Wenhong, on my left in the top right photo, Dean of the Zhou Enlai School of Government, chaired the lecture. Professor ZHU Guanglei (on my right in the bottom right photo)， former Vice-President of Nankai University, attended the lecture. He is Life Fellow of the Global China Academy (click here to watch greeting video at the GCA’s founding ceremony). Afterwards, among the many students who asked questions related to my lecture, a PhD student, LU Hanxu, brought my book, On Marxist Sociology (1992/2018), and asked for a signature. Lu is writing her PhD thesis entitled ‘The Study of the Sinicization of Marxist Sociology (1919-1949)’ under the supervision of Professor ZHAO Wanli, who is also the Director of the first national research Center for Marxist Sociology in China.

On the morning of April 13th, I was invited to deliver a lecture at the School of Art at Tianjin Polytechnic University. The title of the lecture was ‘Transculturality’ and Art Communication. As the global era quietly transitions into the digital age, cross-cultural discourse is increasingly challenged by ‘transcultural’ discourse. My lecture aimed to showcase the similarities and differences between ‘transcultural’ and both cross-cultural and intercultural communications through the examination of ‘transcultural’ products and practices in different art forms during the cultural exchange process between China and other countries, mainly the UK. It was intended to introduce case practices of ‘transculturality’, the vitality of its concept in cultural communication, and the analytical power of related research. However, due to a personal matter, the lecture was canceled. Professor ZHANG Qiugui (left in the left photo), who was scheduled to chair the lecture, is seen seeing me off from Tianjin West Station.

Two hours later, I arrived at the Beijing Jiaodaokou Police Station, where I met Professor ZHOU Yunwei (in the right photo), Deputy Dean of the School of Police Information Engineering and Cybersecurity at the People’s Public Security University of China (PPSUC). It was our first meeting since I interviewed him in his hometown, Xianning County of Hubei Province, in 1990. At that time, I worked at PPSUC and represented both PPSUC and PPUC (People’s Police University of China, which merged with PPSUC in 1998), for student recruitment in Hubei Province. Zhou was among those admitted to PPUC from an ordinary family background. In the ‘Postscript’ of his book, Principles of Electromagnetic Wave Evidence, Zhou expressed his gratitude to me for changing his life (PPSUC Press, 2021, p334). Learning that I needed official proof of my previously canceled Beijing Resident Certificate (hukou) to apply for a Foreigner’s Residence Permit, Zhou quickly offered his help. He arranged a meeting at the police station to accommodate my busy schedule, ensuring I could visit my 92-year-old mother in China without the need for a visa in the coming years. During lunchtime, we also discussed possible collaboration with colleagues at the PPSUC in related fields from a global and comparative perspective.

In theory, my academic activities should have concluded at Nankai University. The two incidents on April 13th serve as records of my experiences in China. I was scheduled to give a lecture on ‘Transculturality and Art Communication’ at Tianjin Polytechnic University, but it was canceled due to personal reasons. This is because I learned that a Foreigner’s Residence Permit in China can facilitate my future visa-free visits to my mother in China, and obtaining official documentation for my canceled Beijing Resident Certificate fit into my very busy schedule.

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By participating in the three-day ‘International Conference: The Chinese Path to Modernization and the Pursuit of Humanity’s Common Values’ from April 4th to 6th, as well as subsequent academic exchanges and visits, I deeply felt the diversity and complexity of China’s exploration in the process of modernization. This conference not only provided me with a platform to present and discuss the application of the concept of ‘recipropriety’ in global social governance but also gave me the opportunity to engage in in-depth exchanges and discussions with scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds. These activities emphasized the contributions of Chinese social sciences to the construction of the global knowledge system, and the importance of interdisciplinary research and international cooperation in driving innovation in social sciences and understanding complex social phenomena.

Anyway, through a series of lectures and seminars at higher education institutions such as Xiamen University, Wuhan University, and Nankai University, I profoundly understood the importance that both China and the global academic community place on social science methodologies, as well as the potential and challenges of corpus methods in social science research in the era of big data. These experiences not only enriched my academic perspective but also provided new ideas and directions for future research explorations in the interdisciplinary fields of social sciences and applied linguistics. This series of academic activities not only showed China’s active role in global academic discussions but also reflected the high attention and recognition of the international academic community towards Chinese social science research. I look forward to more such exchanges and cooperation in the future, collectively advancing the development and innovation of social sciences, and offering new perspectives and solutions for addressing global issues.

By Xiangqun Chang