About SGAS

The School of Global and Area Studies (Institute of International Relations) at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (hereinafter referred to as “the School”) was established in December 2024. It is a comprehensive academic entity integrating talent development, teaching research, and academic research in area studies.

The School offers well-established bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, with over 700 enrolled students. At the undergraduate level, the School offers three politics-related majors—Diplomacy, International Politics, and International Organizations and Global Governance—and eight language majors including Italian, Polish, Greek, Serbian, Czech, Croatian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian. It hosts two national-level First-class Undergraduate Programmes (Italian and Polish), and five provincial-level ones (Diplomacy, International Politics, Italian, Greek, and Serbian). The School boasts the largest and most developed cluster of less commonly taught European languages in South China. At the postgraduate level, the School is authorized to confer master's degrees in Political Science, European Languages and Literature, and International Affairs. The Political Science discipline includes three subfields: Political Science Theory, International Relations, and Diplomacy. Both Political Theory and International Relations are designated key provincial disciplines. The European Languages and Literature program currently offers three specialized tracks: Italian Language and Literature, Polish Language and Literature, and European Culture Studies.

The School has 67 faculty and staff members, including 10 international teachers, among whom are 5 professors, 12 associate professors, 1 Yunshan Distinguished Scholar, 1 Yunshan Chair Professor, and 2 Yunshan Young Scholars. Notable honors include: one faculty member awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, one appointed as a special expert by the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, one named “Outstanding Educator of Southern Guangdong,” and one recipient of third prize in the first Guangdong Provincial College Teaching Innovation Competition.

Commissioned by the Guangdong Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, the School leads the construction of provincial think tanks, including Center for Asia-Pacific Cooperation Studies and Center for Pacific Island Countries Studies. It also hosts other research centers such as Center for Central and Eastern European Studies, Center for Research on China's Neighborhood Strategy, and Russia Studies Center, as well as teaching teams like Teaching and Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy and Teaching and Research Center of Non-general Languages. The university’s Academy of International and Regional Studies is also based within the School. The School regularly publishes policy reports through platforms like the Blue Book of Central and Eastern European Cultures and Pacific Islands Report, offering policy advice on regional and global issues to support national and regional strategic decision-making.

The School actively promotes international exchanges and cooperation. It has established internship and teaching practice bases in partnership with various organizations, including the Guangdong Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office, Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, Guangdong International Economic Association, South Reviews Think Tank, 21st Century Business Herald, Guangzhou Tianhe Foreign Language School, Zhucun Primary School in Tianhe District, Dongguan Oriental Primary School, and Gaoming No.1 High School in Foshan. The School has also developed academic and talent cultivation collaborations with institutions such as the University of Maryland (USA), Keele University (UK), Kazan Federal University and North-West Institute of Management (Russia), University of Montreal (Canada), University of Canterbury (New Zealand), University of Pavia, University of Macerata, and University of Naples "L'Orientale" (Italy), the Polish Ministry of Education and leading Polish universities including the University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian University, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, the University of Athens (Greece), University of Belgrade and University of Novi Sad (Serbia), Charles University (Czech Republic), and University of Zagreb (Croatia). Multiple students from the School have interned at the United Nations and other international organizations. Leveraging its disciplinary strengths, the School has launched signature events such as the International Italian Language Week, Model United Nations Conferences, Simulated Diplomatic Negotiation Competitions, and Contest of Diplomatic Protocol and Social Etiquette.