On the morning of November 12, 2024, Cheung Kong School of Journalism and Communication, Shantou University, invited Professor Daya Kishan Thussu, Chair Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University and President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), to the East Coast Campus for a seminar with over a dozen faculty members specializing in International Journalism and Communication. Professor Thussu shared his research and perspectives on the international communication of Chinese culture. The seminar was attended by Party Secretary Yu Shanyan and Dean Professor Mao Hao, and was chaired by Associate Dean Professor Mao Liangbin.
Why has the international communication of Chinese culture drawn increasing attention in the current global landscape? Professor Thussu noted that China, with its vast population, long cultural history, and status as the world's second-largest economy, is exceptionally unique. Therefore, the global dissemination of Chinese culture merits in-depth study.
During the discussions, faculty members raised questions on topics such as studying international communication from micro-level perspectives and the integration of communication psychology with global communication. Professor Thussu responded that international communication research can transcend binary thinking; it can not only examine cultural exchanges between non-Western and Western countries but also compare cultural differences and exchanges among non-Western countries themselves.
At the seminar, Mao Liangbin briefed Professor Thussu on the development of Cheung Kong School of Journalism and Communication, particularly the key research directions of the "Center for International Communication of Chinese Culture," a Guangdong Provincial Social Science Research Base approved in May of the same year. Professor Thussu remarked that "the international communication of Chinese culture is a promising research direction with ample room for growth," and expressed his hope that Chinese scholars could develop a theoretical model distinct from Western frameworks and better suited to China's context.
Professor Mao Hao stated that the College would leverage the research base to conduct cross-cultural communication studies focusing on Chaoshan culture and overseas Chinese culture, thereby building upon its disciplinary strengths. He also expressed hope for closer ties with IAMCR and enhanced exchanges with Professor Thussu to foster deeper collaboration.
About Daya Kishan Thussu
Daya Thussu is Professor of International Communication. He was Visiting Professor and inaugural Disney Chair in Global Media at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University in Beijing. For many years he was Professor of International Communication and Co-Director of India Media Centre as well as research advisor to the China Media Centre at the University of Westminster in London. With a PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, he worked as a journalist both in India and the UK, for the Press Trust of India, the country’s national news agency and at the Gemini News Service as Associate Editor.
He is the Founder and Managing Editor of the Sage journal Global Media and Communication. Author or editor of 18 books, among his main publications are: Electronic Empires (Arnold: 1998); International Communication - Continuity and Change, third edition (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019); Media on the Move – Global Flow and Contra-flow (Routledge: 2007); News as Entertainment: The Rise of Global Infotainment (Sage: 2007); Internationalizing Media Studies (Routledge: 2009); Media and Terrorism: Global Perspectives (Sage: 2012, co-edited with Des Freedman); Communicating India’s Soft Power: Buddha to Bollywood (Palgrave, 2013/Sage, 2016); Mapping BRICS Media (Routledge: 2015, co-edited with Kaarle Nordenstreng) and China’s Media Go Global (Routledge, 2018, co-edited with Hugo de-Burgh and Shi Anbin).
