Xi'an International Studies University

Xi'an International Studies University (XISU) (Chinese: 西安外国语大学) is located in the city of Xi'an which is famous for the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, known as the "Eighth Wonder" in the world. The university was founded in 1952 in Xi'an, Shaanxi with the Russian Department of Northwest University, the Russian Department of Lanzhou University, and the Russian training class of the Chinese Communist Party merged as Northwest Russian Academy. At its establishment, it was one of the four earliest language schools in the People's Republic of China, and the only one that teaches most foreign languages in Northwest China .

The university experienced three phases of development in its history. The first one is from 1952 to 1958, during which period the academy produced lots of Russian graduates, who were the main force in the early construction of new China. The second one is from 1958 to 2006 when the institution used the name of Xi'an Foreign Language Institute. During this period, the institute experienced dramatic progress in its development with the introduction of undergraduate majors in English, German,French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Hindi, and Thai at different times after the Cultural Revolution, and the approval by the Education Ministry to start Master programs in English,Russian, French, German, and Japanese. The most recent one is since 2006 when the Education Ministry upgraded the institute into a university, which means the university has comprehensive majors and minors, and its academic force .

Now the university has 27 academic schools, colleges, and departments with 39 majors and 7 minors. It has 19 graduate programs of different foreign languages. The It is now one of the top five foreign language universities in China.

There are also 22 centers in fields such as foreign languages and literature, foreign language and teaching, Human geography, bilingual dictionary compiling and editing, etc.

Presently there are about 24,000 students studying in the university. XISU finds its alumni working all over the world, mostly in education. A lot of them are working at universities in the U. S.,England, Japan, Germany, and France. Now the university has established cooperative programs with most countries in the world such as exchange programs with faculty, administrators, and students.

Motto

Patriotism, knowledge, assiduity and veracity

List of Directors

Sun Tianyi, 1986-1998
Du Ruiqing, 1998-2004
Hu Sishe, since sept 2004.

Translation of "Xi'an International Studies University"

French: Université d'études internationales de Xi'an, Chinese: 西安外国语大学.