Hunan Normal University, founded in 1938, is a higher education institution in Changsha, Hunan Province. The university is a national 211 Project university, one of the country's 100 key universities in the 21st century that enjoy priority in obtaining national funds. It is also a Chinese Ministry of EducationDouble First Class Discipline University, a major government initiative to comprehensively develop a group of elite universities into "world-class universities" by 2050. It is particularly reputable for its concentration on teachers education and training, foreign language studies, Chinese literature and history.
History
National Normal College
Hunan Normal University was built on the first independent teachers' college in China, named ":zh:国立师范学院|National Normal College," established in 1938. Its historic origin can be traced back to Yuelu Academy in Northern Song Dynasty, one of the four most prestigious academies over the last 1000 years in China. It was integrated into Hunan University in 1949.
Structure and departments
Consisting of five campuses, Hunan Normal University covers a total area of 1.78 km², with one million square meters of floor space. Most of the campuses are located near the Yuelu Mountain. The university is divided into 23 colleges, 3 teaching departments, 51 research institutions. The university offers 74 undergraduate programs, 147 master programs, and 55 Ph.D. programs. There are 10 postdoctoral scientific research stations, 13 State Training and Research Bases or Centers and 7 key laboratories, jointly constructed by the Ministry of Education and Hunan Province, on the campus. Since its founding, the university has educated nearly 300,000 students, including about 4,000 international students and students from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Currently, over 24,000 undergraduates, 8,000 graduates and 300 international students are studying on campus. There are 1091 professors and associate professors at the university; among them are one academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The university has invited about 600 scholars and experts to give lectures or conduct scientific research on campus from more than 20 countries since 2,000, and has established relations with over 80 foreign institutions of higher learning for academic exchanges.
Library
The library of the university has a collection of 3.4 million volumes, including 200,000 volumes of traditional thread binding books, and subscribes 4,700 kinds of Chinese and foreign periodicals. There are 12 academic periodicals published and distributed by the university. The university has its own publishing house called Hunan Normal University Press.
Partner Institution
Hunan Normal University has partnered with 125 higher education institutions across around 33 countries or regions, including the United States, France, Italy, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Australia. It provides exchange opportunities for students every year to study overseas.
