Department of Rhetoric and Communication was newly founded in 2011 on the basis of the successful teaching reform of Writing and Rhetoric Group and English Elite Class at the School of Foreign Languages, Beihang. It is the only known rhetoric department in China that combines foreign language teaching with rhetoric and communication.

The goal of the department is to cultivate high-quality leaders in the fields of national and international politics, who have not only solid foundations in foreign languages with strong abilities in public speaking, debating and writing, but also superb training in leadership, international perspectives, critical thinking and communication.

The teaching of Department of Rhetoric and Communication features a highly international model. The head of the department is Dr. James Crosswhite, director of Writing Program of Oregon University. There will also be a teaching and academic committee chaired by Prof. David Frank, Dean of the Department of Rhetoric and Communication, Oregon University. Other members of the committee include David Kaufer of Carnegie-Mellon, David Zarefsky of Northwestern University, and many other internationally well-known scholars in this field. The department will launch exchange programs of teachers and students with many famous universities to ensure successful globalization in terms of teaching philosophy and teaching methodology.

The department is now working on teacher training and curriculum designing. When this is done, it plans to recruit post-graduate students in 2012, and full-time undergraduate students in 2013.

Contact: zzxgh0901@sohu.com

Authored by Guohong XU