On November 23, the 2025 Chinese Anthropology Annual Conference, hosted by the Chinese Anthropological Society and organized by SCMU, was held on campus. Under the overarching framework of "Forging a Strong Sense of Community for the Chinese Nation," the conference centered on the theme "Anthropological Prospects in the Age of AI." It brought together over 300 experts and scholars from more than 100 universities and research institutions across the country, with over 200 academic papers and reports received.
Group photo of the conference. Photo by Hua Yijia
At the opening ceremony, Jin Li, President of the Chinese Anthropological Society, President of Fudan University, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with Liu Yi, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of SCMU, delivered speeches respectively. Qin Rui, Standing Committee Member of the Party Committee and Vice President of SCMU, presided over the opening ceremony.
Jin Li expressed his gratitude to our university for the thoughtful services and high-quality academic environment provided for the conference, and he highly praised the profound legacy the university has accumulated in the fields of anthropology and ethnic studies. Liu Yi delivered a welcome speech on behalf of the university. He emphasized that anthropology shoulders the important mission of interpreting Chinese civilization and forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation. In the face of the global wave of artificial intelligence, the discipline faces profound challenges but also encounters unprecedented historical opportunities.
During the keynote presentation session, top scholars from our university, as well as institutions such as Fudan University, Xiamen University, Sun Yat-sen University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Minzu University of China, and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered a high-level academic feast. The presentations showcased both theoretical depth and cutting-edge perspectives. Professor Ma Guoqing's scholarly interpretation of the "diversity and unity of the Chinese nation" provided solid theoretical support for the construction of the Chinese national community. Researcher Zhang Yimin, from the perspective of intelligent agents, explored the construction of a "large-scale social simulator," skillfully bridging dialogue between technology and anthropology. The discussions subsequently expanded into broader domains. From Professor Peng Zhaorong's profound reflection on the "digital intelligence of the Anthropocene" to Professor Zou Shipeng's vision for the "revival of philosophical anthropology in the AI era," scholars delved deeply into the intricate connections between technological civilization and the essence of human existence. The research of scholars such as Deng Xiaohua, Zhou Daming, and Wang Jiucun covers traditional fields such as ethnic studies, urban-rural development, and high-altitude adaptation, demonstrating a solid disciplinary foundation. Professors Ye Shuxian, Ni Xijun, Yang Yimin, Sun Jiuxia, and Chen Xiangjun explored the limitless possibilities of interdisciplinary integration in the AI era from diverse perspectives, including literary anthropology, deep-time human origins, isotope tracing, tourism anthropology, and frontier studies, showcasing anthropology's powerful interdisciplinary vitality.
In the afternoon, eight parallel sub-forums were held simultaneously, addressing a wide range of cutting-edge topics such as "Anthropological Insights in the AI Era," "Physical, Archaeological, and Molecular Anthropology," "Medical Anthropology," and "Linguistic Anthropology and Ethnic Community."
This year's conference also featured dedicated sessions for young scholars, as well as doctoral and master's students, and included an evaluation segment for outstanding presentations. As the presenter in the "Linguistic Anthropology and Ethnic Community" sub-forum, Zhu Dexian, a 2024 doctoral student from the School of Ethnology and Sociology at our university, remarked, "Participating in this conference has made me realize that returning to the realities of life and focusing on genuine questions are the essence of academic research."
The award ceremony for the Outstanding Presentation Prize. Photo by Hua Yijia
It is reported that the annual conference also hosted a council meeting and a membership representative meeting of the Chinese Anthropological Society. The participating experts spoke highly of our university's distinctive strengths and advantages in fields such as anthropology, ethnology, information science, and biomedicine. On the day before the annual conference opened, the "Advanced Seminar on Ethnology, Anthropology, and Artificial Intelligence," jointly organized by the Chinese Anthropological Society and our university, commenced first, serving as a high-quality prelude to the subsequent academic exchanges.
