From 7 to 8 December, the 17th Yangtze River Delta Academic Forum for Graduate Students of Theatre, Film and Television, hosted by the Graduate School of Shanghai Theatre Academy, was successfully held. On the morning of the 7th, the opening ceremony of the forum took place at the multi-functional classroom of the library on the Huashan Road campus. Attendees included Professor He Chengzhou from Nanjing University, Professor Chen Ke from Central Academy of Drama, Teacher Lu Zihui from Shanghai International Studies University, as well as Deputy Dean Wen Tao and Teacher Guo Tian from the Graduate School of STA. The opening ceremony was chaired by Teacher Han Shuang from the Graduate School of STA.
Following the opening ceremony, Professor He Chengzhou delivered a keynote lecture titled "Performance and Performativity Studies". After the lecture, Professor He engaged in a lively discussion with the attending teachers and students on related topics, with students expressing that they greatly benefited from the session.
On the afternoon of the 7th, the forum officially entered the student presentation stage. This year's forum received 113 submissions from over 30 universities nationwide, with 62 papers making it through the selection process, setting a record in the forum's history. A total of 47 papers were presented during the public presentations. Over three sessions spanning two days, students from different disciplines and regions delivered impressive presentations around the forum's theme, "Crisis and Opportunity: Theoretical and Practical Studies of Theatre, Film and Television in the Future". They shared their paper writing processes and experiences, sparking a collision of ideas through exchanges and discussions.
After the student presentations, the expert reviewers provided thorough and detailed feedback and summaries of the papers.
Notably, after the presentations on the afternoon of the 7th, master's students from Shanghai Theatre Academy and doctoral students from the Carlson Centre for Drama collaborated to present a reading session of excerpts from the Chinese version of "The Guest at the Ranch House". This session showcased the distinctive features of Shanghai Theatre Academy's education and teaching. That evening, the forum organized a trip for participants to attend the stage play "12 Angry Men" at the Shanghai Jasmine Theatre, offering a vivid on-site theatrical experience alongside academic research.
The closing ceremony of the forum was held as scheduled on the afternoon of the 8th. After evaluation and recommendations from the experts, a total of 15 graduate students received awards. Amidst warm applause, the 17th Yangtze River Delta Academic Forum for Graduate Students of on Theatre, Film and Television successfully concluded. We look forward to seeing the students who participated in the forum grow and thrive, holding fast to their academic research aspirations and stepping onto larger academic stages in their future research endeavors.
