Institute of Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education (IAAE) Shanghai Normal University, China
The Institute of Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education (IAAE) of Shanghai Normal University is the birthplace of the famous Bie-modern theories. The institute was founded in December 2014 organized by its director WANG Jianjiang, Professor in the College of Humanities at Shanghai Normal University. Dr. Wang is tutor for doctoral students, and head of the discipline in aesthetics and the theory of literature and art. The Institute currently has 6 Professors, 3 Associate Professors, 1 Lecturer, 2 Post-doctoral teachers, 1 Senior Visiting Scholar, including 2 foreign part-time professors. The institute is within the College of Humanities actively recruits doctoral students, master students, post-doctoral students and teachers in aesthetics and literary theory.
The Institute undertakes 5 national social science fund projects, 3 Shanghai-level scientific research projects, and 2 school-level key projects.
Since Dr. Wang Jianjiang, the head of the institute, first proposed Bie-modern Theory in 2014, he has established close contact with CCBMS in the United States and CBMS in Slovenia. It has independently held 3 domestic Bie-modern research conferences, 5 international Bie-modern research conferences, 2 jointly organized international Bie modern conferences, and 3 International Bie-modern art exhibitions.
From 2017 to 2018, Bie-modern: Space Encounters and Time Spans by WANG Jianjiang, Discourse Innovation and International Dialogue co-authored by WANG Jianjiang and Aleš Erjavec, and Bie-modern: Works and Commentary co-authored by WANG Jianjiang and Keaton Wynn have been published by China Social Sciences Press. The video of “Bie-modernist Art” was recorded in 2019.
Center for Chinese Bie-modern Studies (CCBMS), Georgia Southwestern State University, USA
Georgia Southwestern State University’s Center for Chinese Bie-Modern Studies (CCBMS) is devoted to facilitating communication between eastern and western scholars concerning the unique contemporary cultural context in China. Housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, the CCBMS places an emphasis on the support of rigorous teaching and research practices, while also promoting diversity and the awareness of cultural differences and similarities.
Focus on the theory of Bie-modern which initiated by Professor WANG Jianjiang, from Shanghai Normal University, one aspect of the CCBMS is to encourage organization of conferences focusing on contemporary Chinese culture and Bie-modern perspectives. To this end, the center encourages and draws support from scholars from a broad range of disciplines with interests in analyzing contemporary practices in China. The CCBMS functions in collaboration with the Institute of Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education (IAAE) at Shanghai Normal University to publish its findings and perspectives.
Center for Bie-Modern Studies (CBMS), University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia
Center for Bie-Modern Studies(CBMS), at University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia
The newly established Centre for the Bie-modern Studies (CBMS) was established in May 2019 at Faculty of Humanities of University of Primorska. It is situated in Koper, a Slovenian coastal town with Venetian Gothic architecture and a tradition of openness and cooperation among people and cultures on all levels. The role of the Centre in this framework is, above all, to promote and facilitate international academic cooperation in the field of humanities, through research and teaching. Particular emphasis is given to the cooperation with the Institute of Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education of Shanghai Normal University and the Centre for Chinese Bie-modern Studies at Georgia Southwestern State University, but also to Confucius Institute, and other institution interested in collaboration. The theoretical background of Centre’s activities is Bie-modern Theory, created and developed by WANG Jianjiang, and to a larger extent its research is devoted to this theory. Even though Bie-modern Theory has been produced and developed in a specific Chinese context, in which Western linear sociohistorical development was replaced by a more appropriate interpretation of society, the theory does not lose its relevance when transposed to other cultural contexts. On the contrary, it shows that when applied to different situations, also those related to Central European or Mediterranean cultural and historical contexts, relevant new interpretations can be developed. Since Bie-modern Theory is seen as one of the most creative approaches towards understanding of contemporary society, culture and art, its institutionalization in the context of the Centre for the Bie-modern Studies can represent an important step in the sense of its promotion and development within the European intellectual context.
