Program Overview

Introduction to the Doctoral Degree Program in Foreign Languages and Literatures

The School of Foreign Languages and Cultures of Chongqing University has been officially approved to award doctoral degrees under the first-level discipline Foreign Languages and Literatures. This approval is a significant milestone for the university, recognizing the discipline as a key area of study.

Program Overview

The discipline of Foreign Languages and Literatures consists of four research areas:

• Foreign literature, with a focus on Western classics, British and American literatures, and Western literary theory
• Foreign language linguistics and applied linguistics, mainly studying lexicology, functional linguistics, second language acquisition, and language for specific purposes
• Comparative literature and cross-cultural studies, featuring interdisciplinary studies combining literature and the media, visual culture, economy, and law, in addition to comparative studies of Chinese and Western literatures and cultures and research in European intellectual history
• Language, cognition and intelligent computing, comprising language testing and assessment, corpus linguistics, cognition and language learning, and language research in the big data context

Program Recognition and Development

The first-level discipline, Foreign Languages and Literatures, has been recognized as a key discipline in the 12th, 13th, and 14th Five-year Plans of Chongqing. During the 13th Five-year Plan period, major breakthroughs were made in terms of national-level talent programs, Social Science Awards of the Ministry of Education, and major projects supported by the National Social Science Foundation. The School of Foreign Languages and Cultures will strive to develop a distinctive doctoral program and enhance its academic reputation, contributing to the "Double First-Class" drive of Chongqing University.

Strategic Location and Context

Chongqing is a connecting node of the "Belt and Road Initiative" and "Yangtze River Economic Belt"; it is also a strategic pivot in China's Western Development Policy. The city is located in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, providing a favorable context for the development of the doctoral program in Foreign Languages and Literatures.

Admission and Enrollment

Students will be admitted to the doctoral program as of the spring of 2022. The program is expected to attract talented individuals from around the world, providing them with a unique opportunity to study and research in a dynamic and interdisciplinary environment.