Introduction
The School of Marxism of Southwest Jiaotong University has 91 faculty members, among them there are 79 full-time teachers. There are 15 doctoral advisors and 41 postgraduate advisors. The School, which consists of six teaching and research units, one department and two centers, has platforms such as the MOE-administered College Counselor Research and Training Base, the Xi Jinping Thought Research Center on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and the Deng Xiaoping Research Center. The School is responsible for the education of SWJTU undergraduates and graduates in ideological and political theory, cultural competence and liberal education.
In 1990, the School was approved of conferring master’s degree in secondary discipline of Marxist Theory, becoming one of the earliest two approved institutions of the Marxist-Leninist disciplines among universities in southwest China. In 2005, the School was approved of conferring doctoral degree in the Fundamental Tenets of Marxism and Ideological and Political Education, and master’s degree in Marxist Theory, becoming one of the three earliest institutions approved by the State to confer doctoral degree in two secondary disciplines of the Marxist-Leninist disciplines among universities in southwest China. In addition, the School offers an undergraduate program in ideological and political education. In 2017, the School was rated B+ in the fourth round of national discipline appraisal announced by the Ministry of Education, and was approved to confer doctoral degree in primary discipline of Marxist Theory. In 2018, the School was inscribed among the first batch to Sichuan provincial list of key schools of Marxism.
The School has one national-level teaching team, two national-level Excellent Courses (three provincial-level Excellent Courses and five school-level Excellent Courses), and two national-level resource-sharing courses. The School has one key expert on Chinese Central Marxism Theory Research and Management Project, one member of the Ideological and Political Theory Teaching Guidance Committee of Ministry of Education and one member of the Academic Committee of the National Society for the Study of Ideological and Political Education in Universities. One professor applied for the Program for New Century Excellent Talents of MOE successfully; and three professors are honorable recipients of Nationwide Excellent Young Teachers of Ideological and Political Education Course Funding. Four teachers are dubbed Influential Personages of the Year for Teachers of Ideological and Political Theory in Chinese Universities. There are 10 teachers who have obtained outstanding prizes such as “Best Chapter”, “Outstanding Teaching Case”, “Excellent Course Plan”, “Excellent Courseware”, “Troubleshooting” and “Teaching Methodology” granted by the Ministry of Education for Ideological and Political Theory Courses.