Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) of the University of Macau (UM) successfully hosted the 7th International Chinese Sociological Association (ICSA) Annual Conference. This is the first time the association organizes its annual conference in Macao, China since its inception. The conference attracted nearly 100 scholars and students from all over the world. Under the theme of “Mobility after the pandemic: changes and long-term effects of COVID-19”, researchers shared a total of 73 papers in 17 sub-forums during the conference, and participants engaged in further interactions and discussions.
Prof. Wei GE, Vice Rector (Research) of UM, delivered a welcoming speech at the opening ceremony, emphasizing the important role of academic exchanges in promoting the development of social sciences. Prof. Tianji CAI, Associate Dean (Academic Affairs) of FSS, and Prof. Wei-Jun Jean YEUNG, President of ICSA, also expressed their expectations for the success of the annual conference and their outlook on future cooperation among academics.
In the keynote speech session, Prof. Zai LIANG, a prominent Chinese scholar, Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Albany, shared his latest research findings in the field of international migration, which provided participants with invaluable academic perspectives. In the following parallel sub-forums, researchers both in Macao and abroad conducted extensive and in-depth discussions on various topics, including gender, marriage and family, migration, urbanization and development, education, organizations and social movements, social stratification and inequalities, health and well-being, community and local governance, culture and value changes, as well as COVID-related issues.
This conference specially honored Prof. Xiang ZHOU of Harvard University with the “Yu Xie Early Career Award” in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of sociology. He then presented his award-winning paper, “Attendance, Completion, and Heterogeneous Returns to College: A Causal Mediation Approach”. The paper decomposed the total impact of attending a four-year college into several direct and indirect components, and provided an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms by which education affects individual income and the role of the education system in social stratification. The study sheds new light on understanding education and social stratification. Prof. Wei-Jun Jean YEUNG, President of ICSA, also presented the “Nan Lin Best Student Paper Award” to the winning students to encourage and honour young scholars’ research and innovation in the field of social sciences.
The ICSA Annual Conference has been dedicated to providing a premier academic exchange platform for experts and scholars in the field of social sciences worldwide. Its mission is to enhance scientific research collaboration, advance the innovation and development of social sciences, and contribute to the collective wisdom and strength necessary to build a more harmonious society.
(Source: Faculty of Social Sciences Link)
