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Dr. Tudor Vlad at Shanghai Normal University in Shanghai, China. |
New Collaboration Between Grady College And Shanghai Normal University
“For almost two centuries, the legitimacy of journalists has been a result of the printing and distribution of the journalists’ products via mass media, Dr. Tudor Vlad, director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, told a group of 25 Chinese graduate students. “Now, the new technologies have changed this situation and are challenging the status of professional journalists.”
The event was organized by the College of Humanities and Communications at Shanghai Normal University in mid December. The University of Georgia and Shanghai Normal University have signed a Memorandum of Agreement in October, and Dr. Vlad’s visit was in response to an invitation from Dr. Hua Zhang, associate dean of the College of Humanities and Communications.
The Cox Center is the international outreach unit of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
Founded in 1954, Shanghai Normal University is a public university. As one of the three major municipal universities in Shanghai, it is a comprehensive university with salient features of teacher training and a particular strength in liberal arts. The university has 19 colleges and 81 research institutions, and over 30,000 students.
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Dr. Tudor Vlad (left), receiving a certificate from Dr. Hua Zhang (right), associate dean of the College of Humanities and Communications. |
“We want to collaborate with the Grady College in a variety of areas, from creating a dual graduate degree in public relations and doing joint research to restructuring our journalism curriculum and conducting training programs in mass communication together,” said Dr. Zhang. “We’ve had many conversations with Dr. Vlad about these issues and we’ve decided what the next steps are.”
Dr. Vlad had a meeting with faculty in the Communications department to discuss mass communication methods and strategies to publish in U.S. academic journals. Chinese professors also were interested in opportunities to spend time in U.S. universities as international visiting scholars. He told the audience that the Internet and the social media have contributed to the decline of print media in the United states, but have also created new areas of research that already attract young journalism and mass communication graduates.
He was also invited by the students of the College of Humanities and Communications to participate in their celebration of the end of the semester.
While being in Shanghai, Dr. Vlad was accompanied by Mr. Fei Zhang, program coordinator at the International Center of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.
