Introduction to the College of Humanities and Development Studies
The College of Humanities and Development Studies (COHD) of China Agricultural University was founded in 1993 by merging several departments and divisions, including the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Rural Development. It has become a college focusing on humanities and social sciences as its core disciplines. Practicing the motto of “reclaiming humanistic sentiment, narrating development stories”, the college has made rapid development and fruitful achievements in talent cultivation, faculty development, scientific research, social service, cultural succession and innovation, and international collaboration and exchanges.
The college consists of the Department of Social Policy and Development Studies, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Department of Public Management and Development, the Department of Law, the Department of Media and Communication, the Department of Foreign Languages, and the Department of Arts. The college has a high-level faculty. As of 2025, there are 237 staff members in the college, including 33 professors and 112 associate professors. Among the faculty, there are:
- 1 distinguished professor supported by the “Yangtze River Scholar Award Program” from the Ministry of Education;
- 2 entitled with special allowance from the State Council;
- 2 selected as “Highly Cited Researchers in China” by Elsevier for five consecutive years;
- 2 supported by the “Support Program for New Century Excellent Talents” from the Ministry of Education;
- 1 selected for the “Hundred Project” of Beijing’s New Century Theoretical Talents in Social Sciences;
- 1 awarded the “Beijing Outstanding Teacher”;
- 1 awarded “Famous Teachers of Beijing Colleges and Universities”;
- 6 awarded “Young Talents Program” of Beijing Higher Education;
- 4 awarded the “Outstanding Teachers” from the university.
The college has a comprehensive education system encompassing undergraduate, master, and doctoral levels, with a well-structured curriculum that highlights distinctive features and promotes comprehensive education. In undergraduate program, the college has six majors in Social Policy, Sociology, Rural Regional Development, Law, Communication Studies, and English. Notably, the first undergraduate program of Social Policy and Rural Regional Development in China was set up in COHD. Rural Regional Development, Sociology, and Law have been classified as national-level first-class undergraduate programs, while the major of Communication Studies has been classified as a provincial-level first-class undergraduate program. In postgraduate education, the college offers master and doctoral degrees in disciplines of Sociology, Public Management and Regional Economics. It also offers master degrees in Law, Journalism & Communication and art, as well as four professional master degrees in Master of Public Administration (MPA), Master of Agriculture (in Rural Development), Master of Social Work (MSW) and Juris Master (JM). Additionally, the college offers postdoctoral positions in Sociology and Public Management. In 2025, the college has a total enrollment of 1,231 undergraduate students, 908 master students, 202 doctoral students, including 118 international students.
All of the faculties have devoted themselves to teaching and have achieved many excellent awards, including:
- 2 national-level shared online courses;
- 1 first prize and 1 second prize of “Teaching Achievement Award” in Beijing;
- 1 “Excellent Teaching Team for Continuing Education” of Beijing Higher Education;
- 1 first prize and 2 second prizes in “Young Teachers Teaching Competition” of Beijing Higher Education;
- 1 second prize of the Teaching Guidance Committee of Sociology in Higher Education under the Ministry of Education;
- 2 special prizes, 2 first prizes and 2 second prizes of university level teaching achievement awards.
The college firmly roots its academic and research endeavors in the rural areas, closely following the major themes of agrarian change, and exploring the pathways of national development and rural transformation. The college has established distinctive research areas and has achieved significant academic results in various fields, including development studies, agrarian change, poverty alleviation, agricultural culture, ecological compensation, innovative management, rural legal system, left-behind populations, rural communication, social policy, and social governance. The researches done by faculties have been recognized with awards such as 2 first prize and 2 second prize of “Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements Award” by the Ministry of Education, 2 first prizes and 6 second prizes of “Outstanding Achievements Award in Philosophy and Social Sciences” in Beijing. Additionally, many studies have been reviewed and acknowledged by central government and extensively reported on the media.
The college places great importance on integrating teaching and research with social services to contribute to national development. It pioneered the “Four Series” actions in serving rural vitalization strategy in China, including research series, social experiment series, seminar series, and training series, providing intellectual and practical support for rural vitalization. The college has established five county-level Rural Vitalization Research Institutes and 67 educational and research bases across the country, continuously advancing diverse experiments in rural development. The college actively participates in initiatives such as establishing professor workstations, the Sanya Research Institute and the Yantai Research Institute, enhancing its capacity to serve local economic and social development.
The college maintains close ties and collaborations with many renowned international universities. In recent years, over a hundred young staff and graduate students from the college have studied at prestigious universities and institutions such as the University of Oxford, Yale University, Stanford University, Cornell University, University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Sussex, Wageningen University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and so on. The college has organized numerous multilateral and bilateral international academic conferences, participated in establishing the International College of Development and Global Agriculture, initiated and deeply involved in the China-Southeast Asia Agrarian and Development Studies Program, the BRICS Initiative for Critical Agrarian Studies, the Youth Leadership Program in Belt and Road/South-South Agricultural Cooperation and etc.
The college actively responds to the “Belt and Road” initiative and implements various international student programs initiated by the Ministries and Beijing Municipality. These programs include the Master Program in Rural Development and Management from Ministry of Commerce, “Belt and Road” National Talent Cultivation Base Program from the Beijing Municipality, as well as the doctoral programs from China Scholarship Council covering the China-Africa University “20+20” cooperation program, the “Silk Road” program and programs in Rural Development &Management and Development Studies. These initiatives aim to nurture talents from around the world and contribute to the construction of the “Belt and Road” and a global community with a shared future.
The college assumes the functions of the School of Public Administration in China Agricultural University, and carries out teaching, research and training. It also provides consultation services for government departments and social organizations engaged in rural development. Since 2018, under the framework of the “Four Series” for rural vitalization, the college has been actively responding to demands from local governments to carry out trainings on rural vitalization and promote collaboration between college and local governments, fulfilling social responsibility of research institute in serving rural development.
The college is establishing its authority in academic research, mass media discourse, and policy-making consultation in the fields related to agrarian and development issues. It has been becoming an academic center, a significant think tank as well as an international hub for research on agrarian change and development.
Visit: https://cohd.cau.edu.cn/
