Recently, Jimei Hall of Freshmen’s College, in collaboration with schools and colleges, launched a series of lectures on discipline aesthetic education, entitled: "Educating with beauty, and living towards beauty". The lecture series were led by Professor ZHENG Shiling, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, a famous architect and President of Jimei Halll. Five special sessions on aesthetic education were set up for Freshmen 2020. The freshmen expressed the following positive reactions: “the so-called academician style is generally of noble character and highly prestigious”; “engineering people can also live poetically and aesthetically, which is profound”; “the aesthetic education innovation in the Masters Forum allows us a more comprehensive understanding of aesthetics, which is beneficial to the all-round development of moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education.”
Five special lectures on discipline aesthetic education
On November 20, 2020, Academician ZHENG Shiling discussed with freshmen the topic of engineering aesthetics, shared the practical significance of beauty and aesthetic feeling, expounded the three-dimensional intellectual ability of theory, practice and aesthetics, and pointed out the importance of engineering aesthetics as a discipline covering design aesthetics, socio-technical aesthetics and applied aesthetics. By describing the concept and scope of engineering aesthetics and the form and content of modern aesthetics, he introduced to the freshmen the concept of beauty under the overall movement of interdisciplinary integration. ZHENG encouraged them to let their imagination run free, remove the shackles of fixed thinking, pay attention to, and carefully ponder on, the physical things around them. This would allow them to integrate knowledge with the environment, absorb information from books, broaden their understanding, and grow up to be socialist builders and successors as part of a comprehensive moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and labor education framework.
ZHENG Shiling - Engineering Aesthetics
On November 6, 2020, Tongji’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning Teacher ZHU Yuhui gave a lecture entitled: “The Lost World - Six-animal Exercise of Chinese Traditional Architecture Aesthetics". He led the freshmen to appreciate the range of architectural lines and to appreciate the aesthetic beauty of life by referencing six kinds of birds, namely, the swan goose, the suzaku, the crane, the roc, the goshawk, and the goose. He also impressed the need for freshmen to be moved by the ancient charm of the horizontal and vertical lines in traditional Chinese architecture and landscaped gardens and to appreciate the dynamism and beauty of life. He encouraged the freshmen to use their sense of aesthetics and rich knowledge to seek out and interpret the exceptional components and value of Chinese traditional culture in the future and to explore its rich heritage. This will allow to "keep learning from what is sacred" and avoid losing forever the rich Chinese cultural legacies from the past.
ZHU Yuhui - The lost world - Six-animal Exercise of Chinese traditional architecture aesthetics
On November 27, 2020, Tongji’s College of Transportation Engineering Professor YANG Xiaoguang gave a lecture entitled: “The beauty of the human mobility”. Taking the strategy to strengthen the country through transportation as a context, he began by reviewing the development of transportation disciplines, as influenced by traditional culture, and introduced aesthetic education cells, in the field of intelligent transportation, namely Aesthetics Analysis, Human Mobility, Mobility System and System Beauty. He gave the freshmen an insightful recitation about the beauty of human mobility systems, using case studies, powerful images, grand concepts, and clear plans. He told the freshmen that no knowledge was limited to a certain profession in the world; and therefore encouraged them not to work within the confines and restrictions of their respective professions, but rather to embrace interdisciplinary thought and procedures to become leaders of the times. In this way Tongji people can be at the forefront of modern thinking and the Tongji interdisciplinary platform can be instrumental in leading the nation.
YANG Xiaoguang - The beauty of human mobility system
On December 11, 2020, Tongji’s College of Design and Innovation Professor SUN Jie, gave a talk on "The art and thinking of contemporary design". This focused on the cognition and understanding of design concepts, the meaning of design and the value of designers. He shared classic case studies in the design development process, stimulated the freshmen to think about contemporary design art, and encouraged them to look at the great changes in the contemporary design world from a positive and dialectical perspective. Through vivid and concrete examples, and incisive and humorous language, SUN scrutinized the components of contemporary design art to reveal its value, beauty and potential for innovation. He guided the freshman to perceive the world in a profound, inclusive manner, so as to reflect and discover its ever-changing nature, beauty and wonder. This would allow them to discover the luster and significance of contemporary design art.
SUN Jie - The art and thinking of contemporary design
On December 29, 2020, Tongji’s School of Automotive Studies Associate Professor LI Yanlong lectured on the basic concepts and development trends of automotive aesthetics, his talk being entitled: "The beauty of automobiles". By detailing specific cases, he made aware the meaning of technology and art to the freshmen, and guided them to draw inspiration from the design of automobiles. In particular, he encouraged them to explore with an open mind the design perfection and form of the car, and combine this will meticulous scrutiny of its every detail. This fusion of sensibility and rationality, including the use of virtual and physical models to verify designs in terms of their aesthetics, ride comfort, driver maneuverability and so on, can lead to an effective synergy of science technology and humanities. He also encouraged the freshmen to be confident in aesthetics, technology and culture, and strive to realize the Chinese ‘automobile dream’.
LI Yanlong - The beauty of automobiles
In the new era of great aesthetic education, Jimei Hall of Freshmen’s College takes the lead in launching a series of lectures on discipline aesthetic education entitled: "Educating with aesthetics and living toward beauty". The aim is to develop aesthetic education in universities through multi-level and multi-disciplinary resource integration so that it can be synergized with other disciplines and hence maximize the advantages and educational resources of the various professional colleges. By exploring the value of the various elements of aesthetic education within different disciplines, and imbedding it into the talent training process as part of the "academic community", freshmen will be able to fully appreciate the role of aesthetic education and be empowered to perceive, appreciate and create beauty. At the same time, the event organically integrates aesthetic education with ideological and political education, and uses the case studies of the lecturers to complement morality with beauty and enlighten wisdom with aesthetics therefore promoting the all-round development of the freshmen.
Written by LI Wendi
Photographed by LIN Cifeng & ZHANG Xinyuan
Source: https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1002/76356.htm
