The School of Marxism at Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, was started from the Basic Course Teaching Department established in December 1980. In March 1984, the Marxist-Leninist Teaching and Research Section and the Moral Education Teaching and Research Section were set up, and then the two sections merged to form the Department of Social Sciences in January 1989, being a secondary teaching unit of the university. In May 2001, the Department of Social Sciences was abolished and the Department of Law and Politics was established. In May 2009, an independent Department for Teaching and Research of Ideological and Political Theory Courses was established, and in May 2017, it was renamed as the School of Marxism. In December 2023, the school was awarded the first batch of exemplary Schools of Marxism in Henan universities.
Institutional Setup: The school currently has 5 provincial and university level academic research centers, 2 provincial and municipal think tanks, 1 provincial famous teacher studio for ideological and political courses, 1 base office, and 1 administrative office. There are 8 teaching and research sections, namely the Teaching and Research Section of An Introduction to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Teaching and Research Section of the Basic Principles of Marxism, the Teaching and Research Section of An Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, the Teaching and Research Section of Ideology, Morality and the Rule of Law, the Teaching and Research Section of the Outline of Modern Chinese History, the Teaching and Research Section of Situation and Policy, the Teaching and Research Section of Ideological and Political Courses for Postgraduates, and the Teaching and Research Section for Practice of Ideological and Political Courses.
Teaching Staff: The school currently has 2 provincial and university-level innovation teams, and 1 specially appointed professor for ideological and political courses. There are 104 teachers, among whom 40 have senior professional titles, 59 have doctoral degrees, and 38 are master’s supervisors. The teachers have won 20 honorary titles such as Henan May 1st Labor Medal, Academic and Technological Leader of the Education Department of Henan Province, Provincial Excellent Teacher, Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Talent, and Provincial Young Social Science Expert.
Discipline Research: The school has a master's degree program in the first-level discipline of Marxist Theory. The discipline of Marxist Theory has been approved as a provincial first-level key discipline. The New Era Ideological and Political Education Research Center is a key research base of humanities and social sciences in Henan universities. Henan Spirit Research Center is a key research base of Henan Social Science Federation. The Teaching and Research Center of Curriculum Ideological and Political Education in Henan Universities is one of the first batch of key research bases in Henan. The Research Center of Central Plains Red Culture and Ideological and Political Education is a key research of the university. The team of Collaborative Education of Ideological and Political Courses and Curriculum Ideological and Political Education in the New Era has been approved as an innovation team of philosophy and social sciences in Henan universities. In recent years, the school has been approved 15 projects of the National Social Science Fund and more than 60 projects at the provincial and ministerial level. More than 120 papers have been published in important academic journals such as Morality and Civilization, Studies in Dialectics of Nature and mainstream media, among which 7 papers have been reprinted by Xinhua Digest. 17 monographs have been published. 6 awards for excellent achievements in Henan social sciences have been received, including 3 second prizes and 3 third prizes. The accumulated research funds received have exceeded 10 million yuan, and over 20 domestic academic conferences were hosted and co-hosted by the Scool of Marxism.
Education and Teaching: The school actively explores and promotes the teaching system and teaching mode of the trinity of thematic teaching + practical teaching + network teaching. The Basic Principles of Marxism is a provincial first-class undergraduate course and a provincial excellent online open course. The Outline of Modern Chinese History is a provincial first-class undergraduate course. Five courses, including The Basic Principles of Marxism, An Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, Situation and Policy, Ideology, Morality and the Rule of Law, and The Outline of Modern Chinese History, have been successively rated as excellent courses of ideological and political theory courses in Henan. In recent years, the school has won 1 second prize in the 6th National Young Teachers' Teaching Competition in Colleges and Universities, 1 third prize in the 1st National Teaching Demonstration Competition of An Introduction to the Community of the Chinese Nation, 6 special prizes and 4 first prizes in the Grand Competition teaching demonstration of ideological and political courses in Henan universities, 1 special prize and 3 first prizes in the teaching skills competition of the ideological and political group in the Henan education system, and has presided over 17 teaching research projects at the provincial level and above, and published more than 20 high-quality teaching reform papers.
Party Building: The school currently has 10 Party branches. It has carried out the Two Transformations and One Creation action plan to strengthen the foundation and lead, forming a good situation where Party building leads disciplines and disciplines support Party building. It has condensed and formed Party building brands such as the 'Four Ones' Talent Cultivation Workshop, Reason 'Reflects' the Original Intention, Cultivating the Foundation and Building the Soul, The First Lesson of Ideological and Political Education at the Beginning of the School Year, and the Speaking of Marxism in the Marxist Field ideological and political dialogue column. The school has repeatedly won honorary titles such as Advanced Grassroots Party Organization and Advanced Unit of Ideological and Political Work. It has been rated as 2 provincial model Party branches and 4 school-level model Party branches. More than 10 teachers have respectively won honorary titles such as Excellent Communist Party Members in Henan Universities and Excellent Party Affairs Workers.
(Note: The above data is as of October 2024)