Prof. Jin Zhao

Current professional background:

Professor of Germanistische Linguistik (German-Language Linguistics) at Tongji University, China.

Field of research:
  • Linguistics
  • German as a foreign langue
  • Intercultural communication
  • Philosophy of language
Purpose of your last research visit:

The purpose of my research visits is to make new projects at the background of a long-term research collaboration between the University of Siegen, Germany, and Tongji University, China. The main research objective is to research the biographies of Wilhelm von Humboldt and his philosophy of language.

Relation to the University of Siegen and/or to the local host:

I was previously here as a Diesterweg research fellow of FIGS (research institute for humanities and social science) in 2012 and within the bounds of the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award of the Humboldt Foundation in 2013 at the Germanistisches Seminar, University of Siegen, hosted by Prof. Dr. Stephan Habscheid.

Future projects / Activities:

Our future plans follow from our research efforts in the field of cultural analysis language and medium linguistics. We have organized a Humboldt research workshop in the October 2017 and on this basis we are planning to edit a Humboldt issue of the Zeitschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Linguistik (Magazine for literary science and linguistics.)

Impressions of Siegen:

Compared to Shanghai Siegen is an idyllic city. The cakes in Naschwerk are the best in Germany. Siegen is a city with a very good quality of life.