School of Liberal Arts (SLA) of Nanning Normal University grew out of the Language Department of Guangxi Teachers' Training College established in 1953. In 1978, it was formally established as the Department of Chinese and began to enroll undergraduate students. In March 2008, it was renamed as the School of Liberal Arts.

Currently SLA has three undergraduate programs: Chinese Language and Literature (Normal), Drama and Film and Television Literature, and Secretarial Science. There are eight teaching and research sections, including Linguistics, Ancient Chinese Literature, Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature, Theory of Literature and Art and Comparative Literature, Folklore, Writing Science, and Chinese Teaching Theory. It has five research institutions, namely the Research Institute for Languages, the Research Institute for Ethnic and Folk Culture, the Research Institute for Ancient Classics, the Research Institute for Oversea Chinese Literature, and the Creative Writing Center. The Discipline of Chinese Language and Literature is a key discipline in the Autonomous Region and an excellent discipline among the colleges and universities in Guangxi. “Theory of Literature and Art” and “Ancient Chinese Literature” are the key courses among the colleges and universities in the Autonomous Region, and “Teaching Theory of Curriculum of Chinese” is an excellent course for teacher education in Guangxi.

Since 1994, SLA had cooperated with the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Guangxi Normal University in recruiting and training graduates in the program of the Theory of Literature and Arts until 1998 when SLA had its own right authorized by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council to confer master degrees in Literature and Art and Ancient Chinese Literature. In 2011, its Chinese Language and Literature became the first-level disciplines authorized for master's degree program, its Folklore (the key discipline in Guangxi colleges and universities) the second-level discipline authorized for master's degree program, and its Chinese Teaching Theory the professional master’s degree program.

Currently, all second-level disciplines under the first-level discipline of Chinese Language and Literature have the right to recruit master students. These second-level disciplines include Literature and Art Science, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Chinese Philology, Ancient Chinese Literature, Ancient Chinese Classics, Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature, Ethnic Minority Languages and Literature, and Comparative Literature and World Literature. And the discipline of Chinese Language and Literature is one of the doctoral program development units of the university.

SLA is now equipped with 56 faculty members, among whom 46 are full-time teachers, 10 executives, 32 with senior ranks (including 11 professors), and 1 with the special government allowance of the State Council. The number of the faculty members with doctor degree (including 5 newly introduced this year) is 32 and the number with master degree is13. As for the age of the faculty members, 20 of them are above 50 years old, 20 of them are between 35 and 49, and 6 of them are below 34 years old. The age statistics indicate that the young and middle aged teachers in SLA are the main body of teaching and research work. On the whole, SLA has a rational structure of its faculty members, with those with high ranks and high degrees and those of the young and middle aged as its majority, which leads to a well-organized teaching and research team which consists of the senior, the middle aged and the young. In addition, all professors also take the task of giving lessons to undergraduate students.

In the past three years, the teachers of SLA have published 156 research papers, 31 of which are in key journals, and 20 books, 12 of which are monographs. They have undertaken 47 research projects, 7 of which are national social science fund projects. They have won 9 provincial awards, 2 of which are first prize, 3 second prizes, and 4 third prizes. The results of their 4 research reports have been adopted by governments. Totally, the scientific research fund gained has reached more than 2,000,000 yuan.

Since the first batch of undergraduates in 1982, SLA has trained more than 10,000 qualified Chinese teachers for the middle schools and competent professionals for other walks of life in Guangxi and beyond. Since the beginning of national release of employment rate of individual colleges and universities, the employment rate of SLA at NNNU has always kept ahead of the other colleges and universities in Guangxi and its graduates are generally welcomed by employers. In the fall of 2021, SLA has 1,147 undergraduates, 262 graduates, and 3 international students.

SLA has a reference room, a newspaper and journal reading room and a Chinese electronic reading room, with 42,395 paper books and 10 computers for academic use.

Adhering to the education policy of the Party and state and following the law of higher education development, SLA tries to improve the quality of teaching completely and strives to build a brand of its discipline of Chinese Language and Literature by taking teaching as its center, employment as its goal, reform as its motivation, and research as its accelerator of teaching. In its discipline construction and development, SLA has had an active and favorable environment and an inspiring spirit, which is distilled as the motto of “self discipline, disciplined behavior, kind help and intensive studies”. Giving full play to professional talents training, scientific research, social service and cultural inheritance and innovation, it has formed its striking specialty of teaching.

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