Jump to content

Tong Shijun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tong Shijun
童世骏
2nd Chancellor of New York University Shanghai
Assumed office
June 1, 2020
Preceded byYu Lizhong

Tong Shijun (Chinese: 童世骏; born September 14, 1958[1]) is a Chinese philosopher and Chancellor of New York University Shanghai.[2] From 2011 to 2019, Tong served as professor of philosophy and party secretary at East China Normal University (ECNU), where he also held several positions in the philosophy faculty and university administration from 1984 to 2004.[2] He served as a researcher and Deputy Party Secretary at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences from 2004 to 2011.[3]

Early life and education

[edit]

Tong spent the first six years of his life in a village of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province before moving to Shanghai, where he went to elementary and middle school.[3] In 1975, Tong was dispatched to work on a farm on Chongming Island.[2] When the Chinese National College Entrance Examination resumed in late 1977 following the Cultural Revolution, Tong gained entry to ECNU to study philosophy.[2]

He received both his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from ECNU in 1982 and 1984 respectively.[2] In 1988, Tong traveled to the University of Bergen in Norway as a visiting scholar.[4] He ultimately earned a PhD in philosophy from the university in 1994,[2] studying under Norwegian philosopher Gunnar Skirbekk.[4]

Career and Scholarship

[edit]

Tong began teaching in ECNU’s Philosophy Department as a lecturer in 1984, becoming associate professor in 1991 and full professor in 1994.[5] After graduating from the University of Bergen, Tong served as the chair of the philosophy department at ECNU from 1995 to 1998[3] and was appointed deputy dean of the School of Humanities from 1997 to 2000.[3] In 2000, Tong spent a year at Columbia University as a Fulbright Scholar.[3]

Tong joined the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) in 2004 as a researcher and as deputy party secretary, becoming the director of the academy’s Institute of Philosophy from 2009 to 2011.[3] In 2011, Tong returned to ECNU as professor of philosophy and secretary of the university’s Communist Party Standing Committee[3]

Tong is the author of 10 original books on philosophy,[5] including his most recent work, 当代中国的精神挑战 [Spiritual Challenges in China Today] (2017).[6] Tong’s scholarship focuses primarily on philosophic paths for dialogue between China and the West and philosophy’s application to contemporary society.[5][4] Much of Tong’s work relates to the concept of communicative rationality introduced by Jurgen Habermas,[7] whose 1992 work Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy was translated into Chinese by Tong.[8] Tong is also the author (with Li Guangcheng) of the Chinese translation of Hilary Putnam’s Reason, Truth, and History.[9]

Tong continues to serve as director of ECNU’s National Institutes of Educational Policy Research.[10] He is a foreign member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters[11] and member of the board of consulting editors for the journal Philosophy and Social Criticism.[12] He has also served as an advisory member of the Shanghai Ministry of Education and of the Shanghai Municipal Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "与华东师大结缘42年,爱不需要理由!童世骏离任感言:为几万师生服务是我的特殊荣幸". wenhui. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "China Development Forum". China Development Forum. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Shanghai Observer". Shanghai Observer. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Tong, Shijun (7 November 2018). "童世骏: 记一次与"乌托邦终结"有关的多国之旅". 探索与争鸣杂志 [Exploration and Free Thought Magazine]. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d "童世骏,哲学系". East China Normal University. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  6. ^ 当代中国的精神挑战 : 童世骏讲演录. 2017. OCLC 1050904009. Retrieved 11 June 2020 – via Worldcat.org.
  7. ^ Xu, Yuedong (30 June 2019). "童世骏:中国为什么会掀起"哈贝马斯热"". The Beijing News [新京报网]. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  8. ^ 在事实与规范之间 : 关于法律和民主法治国的商谈理论. 2014. OCLC 951885721. Retrieved 11 June 2020 – via Worldcat.org.
  9. ^ 理性,真理与历史. 2016. OCLC 1050445113. Retrieved 11 June 2020 – via Worldcat.org.
  10. ^ "院长:童世骏". National Institutes of Educational Policy Research [China]. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Foreign Members: Group 3: Philosophy and Psychology". The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Philosophy and Social Criticism: Editorial Board". Sage Journals. Retrieved 11 June 2020.