The 12th Symposium of China Association for the Study of American Literature (CASAL) was held in HHU from Oct. 27th to Oct. 29th. Many renowned scholars attended the opening ceremony hosted by Prof. Cai Bin, Dean of this college, such as Prof. Xu Weiya, Vice President of HHU and Prof. Zhu Gang from NJU, Chairman of CASAL. Vice chairmen of CASAL were also present, including Prof. Jin Li from BFSU, Prof. Zhao Yifan and Porf. Sheng Ning, Researchers of Institute of Foreign Literature, CASS, Prof. Yang Jincai from NJU, and Prof. Shen Fuying from SDU.

Nearly ten renowned scholars at home and abroad delivered keynote speeches centered around the topic of “Border of American Literature Studies”. They were Prof. Zhao Yifan and Porf. Sheng Ning from Institute of Foreign Literature, CASS, Prof. Qiao Guoqiang from Shanghai International Studies University, Prof. Chen Shidan and Prof. Geng Youzhuang from Renmin University of China, Prof. Luo Lianggong from Central China Normal University, Prof. Luo Xiaoyun from Sichuan International Studies University, Prof. Wang Liya from Beijing Foreign Studies University, Prof. Hu Biyuan from Hohai University and Miss Chen Xing from Nanjing University. Key speeches on the topic of “Cross-border and Narrative” as well as “Bob Dylan”was made by Prof. Dai Xianmei from RUC, Prof. Gao Fen from Zhejiang University, Prof. Tang Weisheng from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Prof. Li Zeng from Northeast Normal University, Prof. Hu Tiesheng from Jilin University, Prof. Li Baojie from Shandong University, Prof. Yu Lei from BFSU and Prof. Chen Aimin from Nanjing Normal University. A panel discussion was then conducted on eight topics, including Studies on the Border of Classic American Literatures as well as Race and Gender, Study on Literature of American Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism, Study on the Aesthetics Border of American Literature, Study on American Frontier Literature, and Interdisciplinary Studies. Besides, a forum was held for postgraduates in particular, with more than 40 graduate students presenting their papers at the symposium. Papers written by Prof. Dai Xianmei from RUC, Prof. Hu Biyuan from HHU, Mr. Zhang Yunkai from PLA University of Foreign Languages (Luoyang), Wang Xuehan from HHU, Qi Jiamin along with Sun Danping from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Zhang Ying from Capital Normal University won the awards for Excellence.

This symposium, sponsored by China Association for the Study of American Literature, was hosted by this college together with Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, the Editorial Offices of Contemporary Foreign Literature and Foreign Languages and Cultures, and Nanjing Shiyan Foreign Language Training Co., LTD, attracting more than 200 representatives from over 100 universities and institutes to participate in. (Reported by Luo Rongrong)