4 November 2014
The 7th Yangtze Delta Theatre and Film Postgraduate Students Academic Forum concluded successfully at the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) on 2 November 2014 after two days of meetings and discussions.
The forum was sponsored by the Department of Postgraduate Programs of STA and co-organized by the Postgraduate Student Union and Wisteria Society of STA. As this year marks the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, the forum adopted the theme of “Never-ending Shakespeare” in commemoration of this grand occasion and to pay the highest respect to Shakespeare. The forum was chaired by Liu Qing, Deputy Dean of Department of Postgraduate Programs. Prof Shi Zhikang of Shanghai International Studies University was the guest speaker, who gave an excellent keynote speech “Forever Shakespeare” to the students. The expert panel consisted of Prof Xiao Ping of Shanghai Normal University, Prof Lian Youping of Donghua University and Prof Liu Minghou of STA reviewed and provided comments on the papers of the students. There were five paper presentation sessions, during which the students expressed their own views about Shakespeare’s life and his works as well as their own practical experience of performing Shakespeare’s plays from aesthetic, literary and stage presentation perspectives. The papers of the students were new and original in topics and comprehensive in thoughts. Through exchange and discussion, they consulted with each other and learnt from each other, fully reflecting their attention and passion for Shakespeare and his works.
There were two major differences between this forum and the previous one. First, the participating students come not only from the Yangtze Delta region, but also from such Xi’an, Chongqing, Guangxi and Beijing etc, thereby producing a great national impact. Second, the forum arranged the interactive session of peer-review among the students, in addition to the regular expert panel review. Apart from listening to the paper presentations, the students also participated in the theatrical education workshop well-organized by the forum organizers, which featured witty incorporation of elements of Shakespeare’s plays. Finally, the expert panel selected 12 excellent papers from the 38 papers received from 16 universities.
Prof Gong Baorong, Vice President of STA and Dean of Department of Postgraduate Programs, and the relevant teachers of the Department of Postgraduate programs afforded valuable assistance and guidance to this forum.
