Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication

By Xiancen LUO

On March 6th, 2020 students of Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication Exchange Project attended the graduation ceremony held at the Pathfoot building, University of Stirling. The participants included Professor Hadland, Damyan Kachulski, Jackie Cameron-Hadland, Grace Wang, Professor Sun and the students of the 2020 exchange programme. 

At the beginning of the ceremony, programme director Damyan Kachulski made a speech. He briefly introduced the process of the ceremony and the arrangements for the following weeks. The ceremony was mainly divided into award ceremony and tea party. 

Then a speech was made by Professor Adrian Hadland, the Head of the Division of Communications, Media and Culture, who congratulated the students warmly and praised them for their excellent performance over the past six months.

Next came the speech by professor Sun from Beijing institute of Graphic Communication. Professor Sun first congratulated the students and then expressed the hope that the cooperation between Beijing institute of Graphic Communication and the University of Stirling would continue.

Damyan and Grace Wang prepared a surprise for the students. Every student received special awards for activism, improvement, academic development and research project awards respectively. The certificates were mainly presented by professor Hadland, Damyan, Jackie and Grace Wang. 

Then the students made speeches respectively. Everyone talked about the most proud thing in the six months since we came to the university. We would never forget this special experience, which is a precious treasure in our lives.

Later, Professor Hadland conferred the course certificate to the students. Talking the certificate, everyone was happy with smiles. The efforts of the six months were significant, and everyone gained a lot.

In the end, we had a tea party. After six months of study, everyone’s English had been improved a lot. This made the communication between the students and teachers more fluent.

北京印刷学院交流项目结业仪式

罗先岑

2020年3月6日，北京印刷学院交流项目的学生们参加了由斯特林大学精心准备的结业仪式。今天的结业仪式出席者有Professor Hadland, Damyan, Jackie, Grace Wang, Professor Sun和学生们。首先是项目负责人Damyan发言，他简要介绍了今天结业仪式的流程以及之后的安排，结业仪式主要分为颁奖仪式和茶话会。

然后是媒体学院院长Adrian Hadland发言，他向同学们表示热烈的祝贺，并对同学们两个学期以来卓越的表现予以高度表扬。

接着是北京印刷学院孙老师发言，孙老师首先向同学们表示祝贺，其次表示希望北京印刷学院能与斯特林大学继续保持合作。

Damyan和Grace Wang为学生们准备了一个小惊喜，同学们分别获得special award for activism, improvement award, academic development award, research project award, 证书主要由Hadland, Damyan, Jackie和Grace Wang颁发。证书颁发后，同学们分别发表了讲话，主要内容是来到斯特林这六个月最骄傲的事情，大家表示永远不会忘记这段经历，它是我们人生中一笔宝贵的财富。

接着是Professor Hadland为同学们颁发结业证书并合照，拿到证书时大家脸上都洋溢着幸福的笑容，六个月的努力是值得的，大家都收获颇丰，证书是学校对同学们努力付出的认可。

最后，老师和同学们在茶话会上沟通交流。经过六个月的学习，大家的英语水平都提高了很多，与老师们的沟通交流也变得更加顺畅。

By Jiayi Sun

On January 9, ten post-graduate students from BIGC exchange programme made their thesis proposal through WeChat video platform. 

Ten students from BIGC exchange programme in University of Stirling madde good preparation on the morning of 9 Jan. At 8 AM GMT or 4 PM Beijing Time the proposal across two continents began as scheduled. The proposal commission of this long-distance defense were made up of the supervisors, including Dean Chen Dan, Vice Dean Li Desheng, Associate Professor Fan Jizhong and other seven supervisors from the School of Journalism & Publishing of Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication.

Due to the limitation of time difference, equipment, signal and other factors, the original video defense was changed to voice communication. Although there were  noises, and other problems in the long distance online communication, the proposal defense was a success. The students benefited a lot from the questions and suggestions of the supervisors. At about 10:30 GMT time, the over two-hour proposal defense was successfully completed.

By Yelin Zhu

On September 18th, 2019, students from the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication got up early, dressed formally to attend the welcome reception which carefully prepared by the University of Stirling.

In the very beginning of the reception, programme co-ordinator Damyan Kachulski first warmly welcomed all the students and professor Chen from BIGC and briefly introduced the class members and the programme. The courses for this semester is divided into classroom teaching and practical activities.

The courses offered by the university for us include Publishing Dynamic, News Writing, Digital Creation etc. In addition, we will visit some publishing distributors, bookstores in the UK. Moreover, there will be a Chinese Culture Week and some events are to be hold for celebration. All of us will join the events in a celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It is a good chance to spread Chinese culture.

After the president of the University of Stirling gave a welcome speech, Damyan suddenly took out a bunch of flowers prepared for Ms. Chen. Pro. Chen was very happy and said thanks to him. 

Professor Chen Fenglan was also invited to the stage to thank the school for the well-organized welcome party and Damyan and Grace Wang who helped us settle down and we felt at home these days.

In the end, the students had a chance to communicate with our teachers and share more details of our experiences at afternoon tea.

By Fangning Lou

At 20th Sept, 2019, the very first week of our exchange study in University of Stirling, Thomas, history teacher, gave us an unforgettable and ingenious class. He guided us hiking in Stirling.

The weather in Stirling seemed to be back in midsummer. Many students were outdoors, reading or chatting on the grassland. On the Airthrey Loch in the distance, swans and mallards were playing in the water. Thomas took us hiking to Stirling’s old town to explore historical sites and learn about the history and culture of Stirling, Scotland and the United Kingdom.

The day before, we watched Brave Hearts(1995), a movie about Scottish hero Sir William Wallace. Besides, the National Wallace Monument is located in Stirling, and in many parts of Stirling, you can see this majestic Gothic building when you look up.

The first stop of us was Cambuskenneth Abbey which was ordered to build by David I of Scotland in 1140. As one of the most important monasteries in Scotland, Cambuskenneth Abbey now has only one tower left, and due to the war and turmoil of different religious denominations, most of the buildings have been looted and burned.

The second stop is the Battle of Stirling Bridge, known as Old Stirling Bridge. Andrew Marie and William Wallace’s army defeated the English coalition here. To commemorate this battle, the bridge was rebuilt in the 14th or 15th century.

In the last part of the hiking, Thomas arranged the activity of “treasure hunt” of the old Stirling town. We were divided into two groups, looking for historical monuments in the city centre according to the requirements of the questionnaire, and then answer questions. Major local attractions such as the Old Town Jail, Church of Holy Rude, and Argyll ’s Lodging were included.

This history hiking lesson made history knowledge no longer just some stories in the textbooks, but also an interesting experience combining history and culture with joy.

Referring:

[1]Stirling Old Bridge

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/stirling-old-bridge/

By Hongwei Jing

On October 21, 2019, The University of Stirling organized the members of BIGC Programme to visit Glencoe and arranged a volunteer Chen Xi to accompany. Before leaving, Professor Chen organized the students to do some homework for the visit of the Scottish Highlands.

Glencoe is located in the west of Scottish Highlands. The earth entered a period of great ice age 950 million years ago, which is known as Precambrian Ice Age. The Scottish Highlands is one of the earliest known places as evidence of the Precambrian Ice Age, and also the last reservation of the ice age with the deepest and widest influence in the history on the earth today. The scenery is so heroic. The famous movies Skyfall (one of the 007 films) and Harry Potter (Quidditch stadium and Hagrid’s cottage) have been shot here.

Glencoe has a long cultural history. In 1692, in order to resist the rule of the Protestant King of England, 38 members of MacDonald were killed in Glencoe. The Massacre of Glencoe is the endless pain in hearts of Highlands Scots, and it has become the creative theme of countless writers and artists, including the song Maclain of Glencoe by Scottish singer Moira Kerr. The famous part “Red Wedding” in American author George Martin’s fantasy novel A Song of Ice and Fire is based on the two most famous treacherous stories in Scottish history. One is the “Black Dinner” in Edinburgh Castle in 1440. The King of Scotland betrayed his promise and lured and killed the Clan Black Douglas (the young Earl leader and his brother) at the dinner; the other was The Massacre of Glencoe in the highland Valley in the early spring of 1692.

This visit enables the members to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the highlands of Scotland, learn the local natural and cultural knowledge, and enrich the learning life of students.

By Han Jin

On the afternoon of November 22, 2019, Elaine Watson invited four students from the University of Stirling Human Resource Management to conduct mock interviews in English for classmates in the Personal Capacity Development and Career Planning class. All ten exchange students from the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication participated in the interview.

Prior to the mock interview, Elaine Watson trained the students on British cover letter writing and interview skills for two weeks. On the day of the mock interview, a full video was taken and the interviewer’s score was used as the interview result. Each student changed into a formal attire and went into the interview classroom with great enthusiasm. With the most confident attitude and the most formal attitude, they all cherished the opportunity of the mock interview.

In the class after the interview, Elaine Watson sent everyone a cover letter  confirmation list and a “My Action Plan” form, allowing the students to summarize this interview and formulate the next step based on the interview videos and ratings received plan. The students of our group said that this mock interview was a very meaningful learning experience. Finally, the students and the teacher took a happy group photo.

By Wenxuan Feng, Hongwei Jing

Today is the Chinese New Year’s Eve. This is the first time that we are away from home during the Spring Festival. Although the university is still having classes and there is no festive atmosphere in this small town, but we gathered together, organized the party, preparing for our lunch. It is even busier than that we were home.

We started to decorate the room in the early morning with bows, ribbons and small lanterns which are taken from home by Professor Sun. In order to keep pace with Beijing time, we chose to have party at noon.

We came from the different places of China. To take care of everyone’s tastes, the lunch menu included dumplings and hot pot. We and our teachers all participated in it. When everything was ready, our group began to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Scotland. A computer set up on the stool acted as the TV role of the CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala during our lunch. It was drizzling outside the window. Inside the room, dumplings were boiling on the stove. The steam made the kitchen window foggy. Toasting and drinking, it seemed like we were still in China.

It is worth mentioning that today is also the eve of the Scottish traditional festival “Burns Night”. Similar to the Dragon Boat Festival set up in memory of the great poet Qu Yuan in China, Burns Night was held in memory of the great poet Robert Burns of Scotland.

In the age of Burns’ life, Scotland was occupied by England, and English was the daily language of Scots. At that time, Burns, against the neoclassical style of British poetry at that time, drew nutrition from local life and folk literature and wrote in Scottish. His poems, with vernacular and beautiful language, extol Scotland’s magnificent views, simple folk customs and profound history, and became the banner of national cultural renaissance. The popular Scottish folk song ” Auld Lang Syne ” is his work. That is why every year, on the birthday of Burns, the Scottish people gather together to taste the Scottish traditional food “Haggis” and dance passionate Ceilidh Dances in memory of the great patriotic poet.

 By Yelin Zhu

On Saturday, September 28, 2019, students from the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication visited St.Andrews to investigate the bookstores. The group is divided into two part –an independent bookstore research group and a second-hand bookstore research group. In addition, the members of the group interviewed and filmed the relevant people in the bookstores.

The entire survey took more than four hours. The owners of the bookstores were very warm. They were glad to have the interviews. 

‘People come in can enjoy a cup of coffee and tea, get slow down, look deeply, enjoy it and find something unexpected, something you can’t get online. This is a bookstore you can come in. It means you could find something you don’t even know you are interested in.’ Michael said that was what attracted the readers the most in their bookstore.

When asked about online sales, Heather said that the physical Blackwell bookstore was independent of its online store.

Independent bookstores and second-hand bookstores gave students different feelings. Their business models and concepts also differ. After the interview, the students exchanged their ideas and gains, and Professor Chen also gave some perspectives and inspirations for the research report. 

By Shiqian Xiong

Under the arrangement of the school, BIGC short term programme group was invited to attend the Saltire Society Awards held in Edinburgh, Scotland on November 30, which was a new experience for all of us. We also made adequate preparations for it. Led by Gill, a group of eleven arrived at the national museum of Scotland, where the event was began at 6:30 p.m on November 30.

The Saltire Prize are presented annually by the Saltire Society. It is the premiere prize for writing by Scots or about Scotland which is open to fiction, non-fiction and poetry. 

Before the ceremony, many people were chatting and drinking champagne in the hall, most of them were writers and publishers. It is clear that the award is somewhat influencial in Scotland.

At about 7:30, everyone went upstairs to take seat and the ceremony began. On each person’s table was a booklet introducing the types of awards and the list of nominees. The awards recognized six literary categories (fiction, non-fiction, research, history, poetry and first books) and two publishing categories (best publisher and emerging publisher).

Presenters were invited to deliver a speech. Then announcements of the winners and the reasons for the award were given. Slightly different from the Chinese literature award categories, there are two special awards. The first is the “Ross Roy Medal”, an award given to scholars of Scottish literature for outstanding contributions to the study of Scottish literature. It is rare for a public award to be confered to a doctoral dissertation in China. The winners of each category received a bespoke award created by Inverness based-artist Simon Baker of Evergreen Studios and a cash remuneration （https://www.saltiresociety.org.uk/awards/literature/）.

After the award ceremony, the waiter brought some dessert and wine, Gill and everyone did some discussion on today’s literature prize, compared and analyzed the differences between China and Scotland, so that everyone had a deeper understanding of the literature awards.

This activity not only made the students understand the Saltire Society Awards’ authority and regional characteristics of Scotland prize for literature, but also provided knowledge of their awards set, evaluation standard and native writers writing, dynamic and direction. It is a valuable lesson for every one of us.

By Jiayi Sun

October 31 was the day before the traditional western festival Halloween, also known as all hallows’ eve, is also the most popular time of the festival. we were lucky to experience the important western festival on this day. Not only the door of every house put on different size of the pumpkin lamps, even the library was decorated with the Halloween decorations. 

The date of Halloween is on November 1. Ancient Irish people thought October 31 and November 1 were the time the dead would return to earth. Gradually comes a custom to let the living wear strange clothes, parade to exorcise ghosts. It was also customary to give candy to the dead, and the recipient promised to “pray for the dead” in return. Today, it is a custom for children to wear costumes and masks and collect sweets from door to door on all Hallows’ Eve. 

British people who attached importance to the ceremony began to make preparations for the festival early. Every supermarket and store would specially put pumpkin, ghost costumes and other holiday supplies in conspicuous areas. Almost every household would purchase some of them. A few days before the festival, it was common to see children dressed in various supernatural costumes on the road. On October 31, the community, schools and other places held some Halloween parties. Stirling University’s Macbeth center for the arts hosted children in ghostly costumes, and the school’s lake hosted track events for oddly dressed parents and children.

Inside the campus library, there were black spider webs laid on the information desk, beside which hang pumpkin lamps, skeletons, spiders, cotton spider silk placed on the bookshelves in the book exchange area. Strings of pumpkin lamps paper-cut on the computer…All these added the library a touch of festival color.