From June 13thto 14th, the thematic academic symposium "Transition from Antiquity to the Middle Ages," hosted by the Chinese Society for the Study of Ancient and Medieval History and organized by the SHNU Department of World History, was held at the Xuhui Campus of SHNU. Scholars, experts, and graduate students from over a dozen universities and research institutions, including Peking University, Fudan University, Renmin University of China, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, participated in the conference, engaging in in-depth discussions on the core topic of world history—the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages.
Professor Chen Heng, the SHNU president and vice president of the Chinese Society for the Study of Ancient and Medieval History, delivered a speech on behalf of the institution. He reflected on the opportunities and challenges faced by the discipline of history in the era of artificial intelligence, and elaborated on the mission and direction of world history research in the new era, incorporating relevant aspects of regional and international studies.
On the afternoon of the 13th, the conference transitioned into panel discussions, featuring four concurrent sessions. These sessions focused on topics such as "Classical Continuities and the World of Late Antiquity," "The Byzantine Empire and the Eastern World," "Politics, Law, and Ethnicity in the Carolingian World," and "The Construction of Knowledge and Cultural Exchange in Latin Europe." Participants engaged in in-depth exchanges on cutting-edge developments, core issues, and emerging research directions regarding the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages. The discussions covered multiple dimensions, including the transmission of classical texts, social transformations in late antiquity, Byzantine politics and finance, Carolingian political and legal systems, as well as medieval knowledge construction and cultural exchange.
