The “Shanghai Jiao Tong University-University of Warwick Bilateral Forum 2024: Following the Footprints of Marco Polo: Workshop on the Occasion of the 700th Anniversary of Marco Polo’s Death” Held Successfully

From June 22 to 23, 2024, the “Shanghai Jiao Tong University-University of Warwick Bilateral Forum 2024: Following the Footprints of Marco Polo: Workshop on the Occasion of the 700th Anniversary of Marco Polo’s Death” was successfully held in the School of Humanities at SJTU. The forum was hosted by the Department of History of the School of Humanities and the Division of International Affairs at SJTU, and was co-organized by the University of Warwick and the Editorial Department of Historical Review of the Institute of History at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. The opening ceremony was moderated by Ms. Qi Hong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Humanities at SJTU.

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Hu Hao, Director of SJTU’s Publicity Department and Member of the CPC SJTU Standing Committee, delivered a welcome address and  expressed his hope that this forum would further promote international exchanges and collaboration, continuously enhancing SJTU’s international influence.

Mr. Ai Ping, Vice President of Chinese Association for International Understanding and former Vice Minister of International Department of Central Committee of CPC, pointed out in his speech that Marco Polo was a pioneer in the history of Sino-Western exchanges, and this forum initiated by SJTU and the University of Warwick exhibited an innovative approach.

In his address, Mr. Guo Changgang, Editor-in-Chief of Historical Review of the Institute of History at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, expressed his hope that SJTU’s Department of History would carry on the fine traditions in the field of history while fostering new features of this discipline at SJTU.

In his speech, Mr. Liu Xiao, President of Chinese Association of Yuan History and Professor of History at Nankai University, mentioned that this forum not only aligned with SJTU’s principle of “the communication between the Universe and the Earth”, but also demonstrated the significant enhancement of the international influence of SJTU’s discipline of history.

The forum featured two keynote speeches, delivered by Professor Luca Mola, Director of the Venice Center at the University of Warwick, and Associate Professor Chen Hao from the Department of History of the School of Humanities at SJTU, and it also had four sub-forums. More than 20 Chinese and foreign experts and scholars attended the forum to discuss the significance of Marco Polo in contemporary international exchanges. During the forum, the scholars engaged in discussions centered around three aspects, namely “New Discoveries in the Venetian Marco Polo Family Archives”, “New Evidence of Marco Polo’s Arrival in China” and “The Significance of Marco Polo in World History”.

 At the closing ceremony, Chen Hao and Luca Mola provided a comprehensive summary of the forum and further clarified the publication of the conference papers. Representatives from both universities reached a consensus of transforming the bilateral forum into a long-term cooperative mechanism. Scholars attending the forum expressed their hope that SJTU would take the lead in hosting the “Sino-European Humanities Forum” in the future to further strengthen international academic collaboration and promote exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations.

Written and Photo by the Department of History, School of Humanities

Edited by Zhang Yihan