Founded in 2000, the Spanish Department was jointly initiated and funded by Chairman of the Korean IB Group and Mr. Quan Ronghao, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jilin University. It is the first Spanish undergraduate major in the three provinces of Northeast China and the inner Mongolian region.
The first batch of its undergraduate students was admitted in 2000. With all the faculties’ strenuous work, the Department has risen from having inadequate teaching strength to reaping gratifying achievements in all aspects. With the purpose of cultivating high-quality language talents that can meet the actual requirements of the 21st century socialist building, the Department, under the unified leadership and planning of the Foreign Language School, has been focusing much of its efforts in curriculum settings in accordance with existing conditions; strengthen the weak links and comprehensively enhance the level of curriculum teaching so as to build a set of high-quality curriculums and guarantee the better upbringing of talents.
Some basic courses have demonstrated good teaching effects after long-term accumulation and argumentation; the professional courses for senior students are designed to help cultivating their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. While at the same time, special courses are also opened covering culture, literature and trade in order for the students to be better suited to the demand of the market.
The good quality of graduate teaching has been acclaimed by fraternal universities both at home and abroad. The Department has achieved good results in EEE 4 and 8, ranking among the top nationwide.
With 6 years of fast and steady development, the Department has been granted the authorization of Master’s Degrees in 2006, which makes it one of the few Master’s Degree Programs for Spanish Language and Literature at the time. The same year has seen the Department welcoming its first batch of postgraduates. And the establishment of the Master’s program has further confirmed its research orientation; greatly promoted the setting and development of curriculums; provided a strong support for the training of teaching faculties. At present, the academic research area mainly covers the Spanish literature and culture studies. With the Department further strengthening its faculty, the research in culture and state condition will be put on top agenda with the expansion of diversified research areas.
The Spanish Department now has 11 teachers (including 2 foreign full-time teachers). Among them there are 1 associate professor, 7 lecturers and 1 teaching assistants, all of whom hold Master’s Degrees or above and overseas studying and working experience. The Department places great emphasis on scientific research, as a result, the Spanish Idioms Dictionary was compiled; Collections of Olive Fruits and Collections of Rich Fruits published; and Spanish Short Stories Selections translated. In the last decade, the teaching staff have published nearly 40 academic papers, 2 collections of papers, complied over 10 dictionaries and translated works, and undertaken 11 teaching and research projects of various kinds.
With an employment rate of 100%, the Spanish graduates have been mainly employed in government departments, state-owned enterprises, multi-nationals and in the field of education, publishing as well as tourism. The Department actively promoted communications with the outside world and encourages the teaching staff from both at home and abroad to participate in related academic gatherings. A national annual council and ‘2013 National Symposium on Hispanic and Latin American Literature’ was successfully held in 2003 and 2013 respectively.
The Department has also maintained cooperative ties with Spanish universities such as University of San Diego, University of Navarre, University of Al Carla and Complutense University of Madrid, which provides a good platform for teachers and students to conduct academic exchanges or for further education.
During the 10 years of rapid development, the Spanish Department has adhered firmly to the road of prioritizing the teaching of graduate students and the training of postgraduates. The Department expands with the accumulated experience and practice and has thus become an important training basis for Spanish talents.
Office: Room 306, Foreign Language Building, Central Campus of Jilin University
Telephone:85166485
Chair: Zhang Rui
