9月3日，新学期开学伊始，适逢全国第37个教师节前夕，上海外国语大学党委书记姜锋、校长李岩松与外国专家座谈交流，慰问疫情期间坚守学校的专家代表，送上节日问候。
座谈会上，14位外国专家代表结合自己的经历和学术背景，阐述了对当前国际形势和教育交流合作的看法，分享了疫情防控下的工作和生活。“We must continue the dialogue despite the difficulties, and we must know how much stronger when we are united.” （尽管困难重重，我们必须继续文化之间的对话。只有当我们团结一致，才能变得更强大。）法国籍外国专家Manganelli Francesca的发言，引发了在场外国专家的共鸣，也代表了大家的心声。从国际旅行受限、远离故乡与亲人的担忧，到探索上海周边美景、在中国迎来新生儿的喜悦；从对比云端与线下课堂授课的异同，到畅谈两年中发表十余篇学术论文的不易；从隔离期间心无旁骛钻研科研项目，到走出家门参与一大会址新馆译介，外国专家们畅所欲言。大家一致认为，动荡的国际格局下，增进国际理解、加强国际合作对于应对全球挑战意义重大，而自己也愿意为搭建沟通桥梁、讲述真实的中国贡献力量。正如意大利籍外国专家Claudio Senni所说: “University is a beautiful world, a place of knowledge, progress and communication. I will try to improve and deepen the relationship between China and Italy”。（大学是一个美丽的世界，知识、进步和交流在此汇聚。我愿为改善和深化中意关系贡献力量。）
校党委书记姜锋在听完专家们的发言之后，首先感谢了他们的真挚分享。他表示，近年来上外不断推动学科专业优化升级，在学校建设国别区域全球知识领域特色鲜明的世界一流外国语大学的过程中，在从语言能力到全球话语能力的转向中，外国专家发挥专业与文化背景优势，对学校学科建设和人才培养起到了重要作用。姜锋强调，面对疫情，学校的外国专家工作要进一步畅通信息、加强交流、共情互助，促进中外学者思想交流，打造上外国际学术共同体。希望外国专家们能够在教学和科研中，贡献对各自国家与文化的多样视角与理解，与中国学者一道，为上外、为中国、为世界的发展贡献智慧、培养人才。
在随后举行的招待会上，李岩松校长代表学校向本学期来自39个国家的84位外国专家送上新学期与教师节的祝福，并对克服疫情下的种种困难来到中国、留在上外的外国专家表示了诚挚慰问。他表示，面对疫情，世界各国都采取了适合自己国情的防疫政策，感谢外国专家们对学校防疫工作的理解与支持，也希望大家的生活能早日恢复正常。近几年，上外的学科发展与人才培养取得的进步与成绩，离不开外国专家们的付出与贡献。学校将不断优化管理，细致服务，创建更多有利于中外师生线上线下共享校园空间与交流平台，让大家在上外工作安心、生活愉快，发展顺利。
座谈会上，外国专家代表们还就加强信息共享机制建设、增进中外师生交流、设立外国专家科研项目、加大学生心理支持力度等方面提出了宝贵建议。对外合作交流处处长张红玲主持座谈会，校长办公室主任蒋昕宇和上海市全球治理与国别区域研究院执行院长杨成参加座谈交流活动。
Translation:
On September 3, the beginning of the new semester and the eve of the 37th National Teachers’ Day, Party Secretary Jiang Feng and President Li Yansong of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) had a discussion with foreign experts to express their sympathy and send greetings to the representatives of experts who stayed in the university during the epidemic.
At the symposium, 14 representatives of foreign experts combined their experiences and academic backgrounds to elaborate their views on the current international situation and educational exchanges and cooperation, and shared their work and life during the epidemic. “We must continue the dialogue despite the difficulties, and we must know how much stronger when we are united.” The speech of Manganelli Francesca, a French foreign expert, struck a chord with the foreign experts present and represented the sentiments of all. From the concern about the limitation of international travel and being far away from their hometown and relatives to the joy of exploring the beauty around Shanghai and welcoming a newborn baby in China; from comparing the similarities and differences between cloud-based and offline classroom lectures to talking about the difficulties of publishing more than ten academic papers in two years; from studying scientific research projects without distractions during the isolation period to participating in the translation of the new pavilion of the Great Hall of the People’s Republic of China outside their home, the foreign experts spoke freely. They all agreed that under the turbulent international situation, it is of great significance to enhance international understanding and strengthen international cooperation to meet global challenges, and they are willing to contribute to building bridges and telling the real China. As Italian foreign expert Claudio Senni said: “University is a beautiful world, a place of knowledge, progress and communication. I will try to improve and deepen the relationship between China and Italy”. (University is a beautiful world, a place of knowledge, progress and communication. I will try to improve and deepen the relationship between China and Italy”.
After listening to the experts’ speeches, Jiang Feng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the university, firstly thanked them for their sincere sharing. He said that in recent years, SSE has been promoting the optimization and upgrading of disciplines and specialties, and in the process of building a world-class foreign language university with distinctive features in the field of country-region global knowledge, foreign experts have played an important role in the university’s discipline construction and talent training by taking advantage of their professional and cultural backgrounds in the shift from language competence to global discourse competence. Jiang Feng stressed that in the face of the epidemic, the work of foreign experts in the university should further open up information, strengthen communication, empathize and help each other, promote the exchange of ideas between Chinese and foreign scholars, and build an international academic community in Shangai. It is hoped that foreign experts can contribute their diverse perspectives and understanding of their respective countries and cultures in their teaching and research, and together with Chinese scholars, contribute their wisdom and cultivate talents for the development of Shangai, China and the world.
At the reception that followed, President Li Yansong, on behalf of the university, sent his best wishes to 84 foreign experts from 39 countries for the new semester and Teachers’ Day, and expressed his sincere condolences to the foreign experts who came to China and stayed in SSE despite the difficulties under the epidemic. He expressed that in the face of the epidemic, all countries in the world have adopted epidemic prevention policies suitable for their own conditions. He thanked the foreign experts for their understanding and support to the university’s epidemic prevention work and hoped that their lives would return to normal soon. In recent years, the progress and achievements in the development of disciplines and talent cultivation in SSE have been made possible by the contribution of foreign experts. The university will continue to optimize management, provide meticulous services, and create more online and offline sharing space and communication platforms for Chinese and foreign students and teachers, so that they can work and live happily and develop smoothly at SSE.
During the seminar, representatives of foreign experts also made valuable suggestions on strengthening the construction of information sharing mechanism, enhancing communication between Chinese and foreign teachers and students, establishing research projects for foreign experts, and increasing psychological support for students. Zhang Hongling, Director of Foreign Cooperation and Exchange Office, presided over the seminar, and Jiang Xinyu, Director of President’s Office, and Yang Cheng, Executive Director of Shanghai Institute of Global Governance and Country and Regional Studies, participated in the seminar.
