In the spring semester of 2026, the School selected four outstanding students to undertake exchange studies at renowned universities in Ireland and France. Recently, students returned to campus with academic achievements and humanistic insights, bringing a successful conclusion to this cross-cultural learning journey.
Student Lai Yirong went on exchange at the Business School of Dublin City University (DCU) in Ireland. Over four months of immersive learning, he experienced an academic environment that is both free and enriching, and through daily interactions with classmates from various countries, he came to perceive the common humanity beneath cultural differences. This experience gave him a profound understanding that true cross-cultural competence lies in building bridges of empathy amid differences.
Student Li Zhuoxuan studied on exchange at Sciences Po. Her greatest takeaway was learning to live with “uncertainty”—with no course offering standard answers, one can only get closer to the core of an issue by constantly shifting perspectives. The course Business and Society drew on Polanyi’s embeddedness theory to deconstruct the dynamic boundaries between business and society, Risk Society applied Beck’s theoretical framework to examine the distribution of power in modern crises, and Social Reproduction brought grand narratives back to the everyday folds of care and emotion. The interdisciplinary thinking that runs through the three courses has reshaped her cognitive framework of complex social reality, making her more sensitive to questioning and adept at deconstruction.
Liao Yingxiao went on exchange to École de Management de Normandie. She likened this period to a “reset button for life” and openly said that stepping out of her comfort zone was not about abandoning a sense of security, but about gaining the courage to embrace an uncertain world. From then on, everything she set her sights on became a broader landscape.
Pan Qiyin also went to École de Management de Normandie. A semester of diverse classroom discussions completely loosened her established ways of thinking. Through group collaboration, she learned to listen to and integrate perspectives from different cultural backgrounds. More importantly, after observing French society and industry ecology by her own eyes, she gained a much clearer orientation for her professional direction—no longer blindly following established pathways, but re-examining the possibilities of career development with a critical eye.
Professor Liang Qiang, Dean of the School of Business, remarked that overseas exchange study is a key part of nurturing internationalized business talent. This semester, the four students not only demonstrated the solid academic literacy and open cultural mentality of Shantou University, but also accumulated valuable experience for the School in deepening its international partnerships. The successful implementation of this program marks the steady progress of the School’s international education strategy, in the future, the School will continue to expand high-quality overseas platforms, helping more students to grow and transform on the global stage.
After the students return to school, they will passionately share their observations and insights at overseas exchange learning lectures, providing fresh references and inspiration for younger students who are interested in stepping into the world.
