by Gui Tao, Peter Barker, Zhao Yinuo
LONDON, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Universities in China are on the right track to success and can already boast a high-level of achievement, according to a renowned British academic.
Dr. Paul Thompson, vice chancellor of the Royal College of Art (RCA) in central London, told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview that China's university system has performed well in recent years.
China's universities continually prove to be high performers in The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE). In its 2019 rankings published late last year, THE noted that China was "among the best represented countries" in the top 200.
"Just keep doing the things you are doing. Because they are already very, very good," Thompson said.
The RCA is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the world.
Its alumni include the painter David Hockney, Hollywood film director Ridley Scott and suffragette campaigner Sylvia Pankhurst.
The RCA focuses on discovering and releasing creative talent. It draws on students from around the world, building bridges between westernized urban culture and --- in China's case -- artistic traditions with deeper and very different roots.
"The world of contemporary art is without borders; whether it's the commercial art market, whether it's the kind of museum shows that are on display, I think that we would say there is a difference -- and an interesting difference (between the West and China)."
"At the undergraduate level, the teaching style is different, particularly in painting," he explained.
Thompson added: "We see incredible technical competency; incredible draftsmen and women of a very very high standard of painting coming out of China, and that's what we love. We'd love to see some of those people come over here and then mix with some of our students."
CONTRIBUTION OF CHINESE STUDENTS
Chinese academics are also making a contribution to RCA. Thompson mentioned Dr. Steven Jia Wang, an alumnus of Tsinghua University, who works as joint head of the RCA's Global Innovation Design and Innovation Design Engineering programs.
Chinese students have made an impression on the RCA in recent years.
"Chinese students at the RCA are absolutely brimming with invention, creativity, innovation and wit. I think there's every reason why China ... is creating remarkable products, services and companies," Thompson said.
"I think there's greater awareness of the opportunities for Chinese students to study overseas. There are more students coming to the UK, to the U.S. It was certainly not the case 20 years ago, there is a big increase."
Thompson cited the example of the 2018 RCA Show, in which Ling Ling, a Chinese student with a first degree in business design from Jiangnan University and who is now studying for an MA in design, uses gamification together with a superhero story to motivate children suffering from chronic diseases.
Her first project was a nerf gun (a kind of toy gun) designed to stimulate the muscles of children with cerebral palsy.
Ling Ling said in a presentation on the RCA website that in her second project she used the Chinese legend of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from the classical literary tale "Journey to the West," combined with a superhero role-playing kit, to engage and educate children with type 1 diabetes.
The purpose is to inspire children through play to "be more brave and positive when facing a chronic disease", Ling Ling said.
Chinese students "definitely find their way to ask, they are definitely creating extraordinary projects", Thompson commented.
"We see strongly innovative people who are very good at taking an idea and eventually commercializing it."
