The Center is jointly managed by the Ionian University and by the Beijing Language and Culture University. The Center's academic and research activities and financial planning are guided by a six-member joint committee that includes the Center's two directors and leading scholars in disciplines relevant to the Center's mission. The Committee prepares an action plan and budget, determines the operational structure, regulates staff and researcher mobility issues and oversees the daily management, the annual evaluation, the assessment of the of the projects (projects) and any related activity of the Center.
Governing Committee
Stavros KATSIOS
Stavros KATSIOS is Professor of International Economic Relations and International Economic Crime at the Ionian University (IU) and Visiting Professor at the Beijing Language and Culture University (2024), Director of the Research Institute for Linguistic Studies, Translation and Interpreting / University Center for Research and Innovation, Director of the Laboratory for Geocultural Analyses (GeoLab), Holder of the UNESCO Chair on Threats to Cultural Heritage and Cultural Heritage-related Activities (2021) and institutional representative at the International University Network Scholars at Risk- SAR (2020). He served (2011–2015) as elected Vice-Chancellor of Economic Management and Development of the Ionian University, as the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the Ionian University Library, as the representative of the Ionian University in the European Migration Network (EMN) and as the representative of the Conference of Rectors for the formation of the Qualification Framework of the Greek Educational System (EQF). He is a lawyer and a member of the Thessaloniki Bar Association (1990), and the German Bar Association (1996). His research focuses on International Economic Crime (corruption, money laundering) and threats to cultural heritage and related activities. He has studied law at the Albertus Magnus University of Cologne, Germany, atGeorgetown University, Washington DC, USA (scholarship to attend courses in International Law and Politics) and at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH). He holds a degree in Law from AUTH (1987), and holds a Master's Degree in European Lawfrom the Europa-Institut of the University of Saarland, Germany (1991) and a Doctorate in Commercial and International Economic Law from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1997).
Elena AVRAMIDOU
Executive Director / Coordinator / Committee Member
Member, Steering Committee, UNESCO Chair on Threats to Cultural Heritage and Cultural Heritage related Activities
Elena Avramidou studied Law and Philosophy. She was a scholar of the Panagiotis & Efis Micheli Foundation and received her PhD with honors from AUTH. She is the first to prepare a doctoral thesis in Chinese philosophy at a Greek university. She taught as an associate professor at Peking University and Nankai University and served as an Educational Attache at the Embassy of Greece in China. She is the executive director/coordinator at the Hellenic Center for Sinology and a member of the Steering Committee of the UNESCO Chair at the Ionian University. She is also Guest Professor at the World Arthistory Institute, Shanghai International Studies University, Consultant Specialist at the World Sinology Center, Beijing Language and Culture University, and Research Associate at the Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos sobre China at the Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile. In addition, he is: Member of the Project Coordination Working Group of the Memorandum for the Translation and Publishing of Works of the Language of Classical and Modern Book Production of China and Greece, YPPO (2018-present). Member of the Executive Committee of the International Confucian Association. Member of the Coordinating Committee of the International Society of Friends of Nikos Kazantzakis. Member of the Advisory Committee on Artistic Matters of the Michalis Kakogiannis Foundation and vice president of the association Friends of the History Center of the Municipality of Thessaloniki.Her interests focus on Chinese and Greek philosophy, with an emphasis on the comparative approach of Confucius-Socrates and Plato, on Greek-Chinese contacts and exchanges from antiquity to the present day, as well as on Chinese society and Chinese culture.Her articles and chapters in collective volumes and conference proceedings have been published in Greek, Chinese, English and Spanish. He has edited and co-edited collective volumes published in China, Greece and Chile, while the Confucius-Plato book The Sage-King and Philosopher-King is being translated into Chinese by The Commercial Press.
Alexis PAPADOPOULOS
Distinguished Committee Member
Professor at DePaul University, Chicago, USA. Geography, Sustainable Urban Development, Grace School of Applied Diplomacy, Islamic World Studies. Senior Researcher at GEOLab and member of the Steering Committee of the UNESCO Chair on Cultural Heritage and Cultural Heritage-related Activities, Ionian University. An urban-political geographer, Papadopoulos studies the political contestation of urban space in Europe and the United States. His published work includes a significant monograph on the urban impacts of European integration in the restructuring of Brussels' downtown, a collection of articles on the urban impacts of market reform and political liberalization in Saint Petersburg, Russia, works on the urban dynamics of Chicago’s LGBT communities, and most recently an edited volume (with Asli Duru) titled Landscapes of Music in Istanbul: A Cultural Politics of Place and Exclusion (Transcript Verlag, 2017). His geopolitics research entangles ‘the urban’ in works on state and identity formations and international security in SE Europe. On-going work includes Hellenic Statecraft: Territory, Identity, and Geopolitics (Routledge), and the co-edited anthology Spatial Futures: Difference and the (Post-)Anthropocene (Palgrave), both forthcoming in 2020. An experienced university administrator, Papadopoulos has held the positions of Department Chair and Program Director, in addition to his Senate Presidency in DePaul University's College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences.
XU Baofeng
Distinguished Committee Member
Member, Steering Committee, UNESCO Chair on Threats to Cultural Heritage and Cultural Heritage related Activities
Xu Baofeng, PhD in Literature, Professor at Beijing Language and Culture University, PhD supervisor. He currently serves as the Dean of the Belt and Road Academy at Beijing Language and Culture University, Director of the World Sinology Center, Dean of the College of Sinology and Chinese Studies, Convener of the World Council of Sinologists, Head of the Secretariat of the Special Office for the Asian Classic Works Translation Project under the State Publicity Department, Head of the Chinese Culture Translation and Studies Support National Project under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Chief Expert for the Major Project of the National Social Science Fund “Oral History of World Sinology”, Chief Expert for the Beijing Excellent Young Scientist Program “Research on the Discourse System of Sinology along the Belt and Road”, Chief Expert for the International Communication Capacity Building Studio for Sinology and Chinese Studies in Beijing, and one of the “Four Batches” Talents (in theoretical studies) in the Philosophical and Cultural Communication System of Beijing. He serves as the director of the Beijing Translators Association, Vice Chairman of the China-Canada International Film Festival, and Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Asian Culture”. He is also Head of the National Project for International Communication Capacity Building “Chinese Culture Translation and Studies Support” under the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, Head of the public Key Project of the National Silk Road Book Project “Talent Development Plan for Localized Translators, Authors, and Publishers”, and Head of the Key Project of the International Silk Road Book Project “The Best Books on China Written by Foreigners”, as well as the Head of the Key Project of the Chinese Contemporary Work Translation Project and the Key Publishing Project of the 13th Five-Year Plan “Chinese Culture Encyclopedia”. He has long been engaged in teaching, translation, and research on overseas Sinology studies, Chinese culture and poetry, and Confucian ethics and philosophy. He has offered courses such as “Introduction to Literature,” “Chinese Culture,” “Introduction to Sinology,” “Wisdom of Chinese Classics,” "Literary Translation", “Chinese Literature Studies in North America,” and “Chinese Culture and Poetics” for Chinese and international undergraduate, and postgraduate students. He has published two academic monographs, edited two volumes of ancient book, served as chief editor for four textbooks, completed one research report, and published over 30 papers in academic journals such as “Literary Review”.
ZHANG Xiping
-
Distinguished Committee Member
ZHANG Xiping is currently a professor and doctoral supervisor at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) in China. He serves as the Director of the Collaborative Innovation Center for Chinese Culture Going Global and is a chief expert there. He is also the Dean of the Higher Institute of Comparative Civilization and Humanistic Exchange, the Honorary Dean of the International Institute of Chinese Studies (formally the National Research Center of Overseas Sinology) at BFSU, and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal International Sinology. Additionally, he is a Distinguished Professor at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), the Vice President of the International Confucian Association, the President of the International Association of Chinese Language Education Studies, and the President of the International Research Society of Chinese Culture. He is also a director of both the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions (SSCR) and the Chinese Comparative Literature Society, and is recognized as an expert with outstanding contributions to the State Council, enjoying a special government allowance. His primary research areas include modern Western culture, the history of Sino-Western cultural exchanges from 1500 to 1800, the history of Western Sinology, and the history of Chinese Christianity. He is currently engaged in research on the history of Sino-Western cultural exchanges, early Western Sinology, and the overseas dissemination of Chinese culture. He has undertaken major projects such as the National Social Science Fund of China's "Collation and Study of Ming Dynasty Catholic Literature Held in the Vatican Library" and the Ministry of Education's "The Spread and Influence of Ancient Chinese Cultural Classics Abroad in the 20th Century." Professor ZHANG has published 15 academic monographs and over 300 papers.
HUANG Zhuoyue
-
Distinguished Committee Member
Professor HUANG Zhuoyue is a distinguished academic at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), where he serves as a professor, doctoral supervisor, and academic leader. He is the director of the College of Sinology and Chinese Studies of BLCU and holds the position of editor-in-chief for both the Chinese Culture magazine and East Asian Sinology. Additionally, he is the host of the BLCU International Cultural Research Forum and the director of the Chinese Culture Translation & Studies Support Research Center. His primary research areas include international Sinology, international cultural studies, Chinese intellectual history, the history of writing, and writing theory. Professor Huang has made significant contributions to the field, publishing numerous academic papers in English and engaging in scholarly exchanges through visits to over 30 countries. His scholarly works span a range of topics, with several notable academic monographs to his name, such as: The Paradigm of Art Psychology, Cultural Choices in the Transitional Period, Research on Poetry and Prose Views from the Ming Yongle to the Early Jiajing Period, Collected Essays on the History of Huang Zhuoyue's Thought and Criticism, and Dimensions of Reconstructing Culture: The Three Major Topics of Cultural Studies. He has also been instrumental in compiling and editing several significant works, including: Overseas Sinology and Chinese Literary Theory (in three volumes), Confucianism and Postmodern Perspectives: Overseas and China, and Inside and Outside the Text: Research on Early Chinese Writing (Proceedings of an International Academic Symposium).
