From 29 to 30 October, sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and organized by the Graduate School of Shanghai Theatre Academy, the 15th Yangtze River Delta Academic Forum for Graduate Students of Theatre, Film and Television was successfully held in our academy. Affected by the COVID pandemic, the forum was conducted online by live broadcast. Although it was impossible to communicate in close proximity and face to face, the atmosphere of the forum was still warm. Graduate students from different places across the country gathered in the online live broadcast room for a warm and free academic exchange.
On the morning of 29 October, the opening ceremony of the forum was held as scheduled. Professor Shen Liang, Dean of the Graduate School of Shanghai Theatre Academy, and Professor Zhang Jingping, a representative of the experts, attended the opening ceremony of the forum. Professor Shen Liang, on behalf of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, welcomed all the graduate students attending the forum and delivered an opening speech. He pointed out that "Digital • Network • Metaverse", i.e. the theme of this forum, is indeed the main trend of today's social development, and that the integration of art and high-tech is imminent, and there is an urgent need for the young generation to make efforts and practice in this field.
Subsequently, Professor Zhang Jingping from the Shanghai Theatre Academy was invited to give a keynote speech entitled "Digital Narratives and XR Drama in Metaverse". With "metaverse" as the way-in, Professor Zhang Jingping made a prospect for the future development of the integration of dramatic art and science and technology, and encouraged young artists to continue in-depth research and explore the boundaries of art.
After the opening ceremony, the student presentation session of the forum formally began. Since the release of the call for contributions, this year’s Yangtze River Delta Academic Forum for Graduate Students of Theatre, Film and Television Forum has received enthusiastic responses from doctoral and master's students from the Renmin University of China, the Wuhan University and other universities across the country. After careful review and screening by the forum’s organizing committee, 38 papers were shortlisted for presentation at the forum. The organizing committee invited Professor Yang Junlei from the Fudan University, Associate Professor Yang Pengxin from the Nanjing University, Associate Professor Zhai Yueqin from the Shanghai Theatre Academy and Associate Professor Li Minyuan from the Shanghai Theatre Academy to form an expert review panel for this forum.
In the two-day paper presentation session of the forum, 38 graduate students met up online and expressed their opinions on the theme of "Digital • Network • Metaverse". Subsequent to the evaluation and recommendation of experts, 11 graduate students finally won the Excellent Thesis Award of this year’s academic forum, which also brought the 15th Yangtze River Delta Academic Forum for Graduate Students for Theatre, Film and Television to a successful conclusion.
This year’s Yangtze River Delta Academic Forum for Graduate Students of Theatre, Film and Television was a complete success, reflecting the “brand” appeal of this forum which has been held for 15 consecutive years. We expect that this forum will become better and better in the future, and that more and more young students with academic research as their ideal will emerge and grow from the Yangtze River Delta Academic Forum for Graduate Students of Theatre, Film and Television Postgraduate Academic Forum and become the backbone of theatre, film and television disciplines.
