SISU Signs Dual Degree Program Agreement with University of Bayreuth

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ISU and the University of Batreuth (UB) signed a  cooperation agreement to launch a dual bachelor’s degree program in German  Language and Literature and Economics on December 7th, the day before SISU’s 70th anniversary.

Previously, SISU had a joint bachelor’s and master’s  program with the UB in German Language and Literature and Economics. The program  started in 2000 and has since cultivated over 400 interdisciplinary talents who  were able to obtain a master’s degree in German Economics and were competent at  cross-cultural communication and area studies. Over the years, known for its  outstanding quality, the program has been reported by German media many times  and attracted great attention from the business and educational circles of both  countries. The program also won the first prize of Shanghai Higher Educational  Achievements and the Outstanding Program Award presented by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst  (DAAD).

The new dual degree program marks the beginning of a  new phase of China-Germany cooperation in higher education. It embodies the  progress SISU made in pursuit of its objective to become a “Double First-Class”  university characterized by new liberal arts education and a “Mutilingual+”  initivative. In recent years, the university has been exploring ways to develop  more comprehensively, combining its long-celebrated tradition of foreign  language teaching with the new developments in across the spectrum of social  sciences, including economics, legal studies, journalism and communication, and  in cutting-edge areas like digitalization and artificial  intelligence.

Professor Schafer, supervisor of the program and the  head of the Business Administration of the University of Bayreuth, introduced  the training mode of the new program: The focus of the first three semesters is  on language studies, in both German and  English, at SISU. From the fourth semester on, they will study economics and  business administration. The courses are co-designed by the two universities.  Then, the students will continue their study in Germany, preparing for their  final year of classes and dissertation writing back at SISU. Students who meet  the standards will be granted two bachelor’s degrees, one in German Language and  Literature from SISU and one in Business Administration from the  UB.

Besides, those who meet the requirements of  postgraduate admission can continue their study at the University of  Bayreuth for a master’s  degree in Economics, which allows them to receive the same high quality  postgraduate education that SISU and the UB were able to provide for over 20  years through the previous program.

Embodying the principle of pragmatics and  student-orientation, this training mode enables students to efficiently enhance  their language skills while systematically developing a knowledge of the  professional field.

Compared with the previous program, the new dual  degree program is more intensive while being flexible in terms of duration of  study. Those who have completed the program can choose to pursue postgraduate  education either at the UB or any schools of their own choosing, or join the job  market directly.

The article is translated by Huang  Yuhong and Li Xiaoyi, and proofread by Lu Yuyang, members of  the Translation Association of the School of English Studies (SESTA) at Shanghai  International Studies University. For use of the content, please contact:  ses_translators@163.com.