Research On Foreign Professors Of The National Southwest Associated University

Faculty is an important indicator of a university’s level of operation,and with the gradual internationalization of higher education in recent years,the availability of a high-level,international faculty has become an important factor of influencing a university’s ability to improve its level of operation and international competitiveness.Throughout the history of higher education,the National Southwest Associated University,as a model of modern higher education,has nurtured a large number of outstanding academic elites and achieved world-renowned achievements amidst the flames of war,of which the reason lies in its excellent faculty.The faculty of the National Southwest Associated University includes not only prestigious scholars in China but also remarkable teachers from abroad,and while there has been more research on renowned domestic scholars,less attention has been paid to foreign professors who also have good educational and profound academic backgrounds.Therefore,by analyzing the relevant historical materials,this study has taken the six foreign professors of the National Southwest Associated University,such as William Empson,A.L.Pollard Urquhart,Robert Winter,Robert Payne,I.I.Gapanovich and Peter Misch,as research objects and examined their teaching and research activities at the university to explore what role they have played in the development of the National Southwest Associated University and what contribution they have made to Yunnan.First,this study on the one hand finds that the teaching activities of foreign professors both inside and outside the classroom at the Lienta University,in addition to the transmission of cutting-edge Western theories and knowledge,have also regulated and trained the academic behaviour and attitudes of students,enabling them to develop a rigorous learning attitude and critical and creative academic thinking,which provides the possibility of cultivating first-class talents at the university.On the other hand,it is found that their research activities at the Lienta University,including the writing and publication of theoretical works on literature,history and geology,have contributed to the development of the discipline of modern poetics and geology at the university and to the enhancement of its international reputation,ultimately contributing to the development of the Lienta University as a world-class university.Second,the special schools founded by foreign professors in Yunnan have trained local English teachers for middle schools,and the geological expeditions conducted throughout Yunnan have contributed to the development of local geological exploration and mineral resources,which has enabled the social service functions of the Lienta University to be better fulfilled.Finally,The case study of the contribution of foreign professors to the development of the National Southwest Associated University is therefore used to clarify the importance of foreign teachers to the construction of high level universities,and to provide historical experience on how universities can be aided by international teachers to be at the forefront of academic research and enhance their competitiveness in the context of the “double first-class project” construction.