Chinese Studies in Spain. World Dialogue on China Studies - Belgium Forum

Chinese Studies in Spain: Analysis, evolution and perspectives.

Raúl Ramírez-Ruiz 

Universidad Rey Juan Carlos 

Brussel, June 20, 2024

Chinese Studies in Spain are a recent construction; we can date their beginning to the mid-1980s, under the impetus of the Reform and Opening of China. Its consolidation through official degrees did not occur until the beginning of the 21st century. Specifically in 2003, with the emerging second-cycle Bachelor's degrees from some universities that began to offer the teaching of Chinese studies. 

Link: https://youtu.be/5zEQ-ScLF8M?si=LQgeRkHsb-If6k3o

Twenty years after those initial steps, experts, professors and universities that teach undergraduate and master's degrees in Chinese studies saw the need to carry out an in-depth investigation of the degrees in both Chinese and Asian studies in force. This pharaonic work fell to the Consolidated Research Group on Spain-China Relations of the URJC. 

The work resulting from this work appeared at the beginning of 2024 and was divided into four large sections: 

- Firstly, the origin of all the centers of sinology and Asian studies in Spain was analyzed; 

- Secondly, the construction of the institutional system of Chinese and Asian studies in each Spanish university was explained; 

- Thirdly, all the official and private Chinese study titles offered were analyzed one by one; 

- Fourthly, a statistical analysis of all the previous information was carried out (to understand the underlying dynamics and try to understand its why); 

- [and] Fifth and last, twelve proposals for improvement for the future were offered. 

Link: https://youtu.be/5zEQ-ScLF8M?si=LQgeRkHsb-If6k3o

As can be seen, the work plan was not limited to a simple cataloging of what existed, but rather intended to review the historical dynamics of the degrees, the type of student body, university fees, levels of employability, and the geographical distribution of the degrees. , etc. in order to be able to understand what the real characteristics of our Chinese studies in Spain were, from there, to be able to propose improvement actions. 

Raúl Ramírez-Ruiz con el Cartel del Belgium Forum: Wordl Dialogue on China Studies

The director of the book, Dr. Raúl Ramírez Ruiz, will offer a panoramic and academic Spanish vision of Chinese studies in Spain, answering three fundamental questions of this work: Why? The fact that? And for what?

Raúl Ramírez Ruiz and Professor Zhang Xiping. 

Renovatio Abroad.