Can virtual reality innovate the future of Chinese humanities education?

This article is derived from a paper recently published in International Journal of Cultural Policy, titled ‘Innovating the humanities, reimagining the future: empirical evidence from virtual reality practice in China’. For a more detailed account, you can find the full article here.

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Despite ongoing conflicts across culture, geopolitics and economics, the challenges faced globally within humanities education are similar (Costa, 2019; Jianping Wang, 2009). Government funding cuts for humanities and arts education were reported in Australia (Barnes, 2020) and the United Kingdom (The Guardian, 2021). China’s humanities education is facing a similar challenge as humanities subjects are widely perceived as less important in contemporary Chinese society compared with STEM subjects (Ma, 2021). Against this global trend, virtual reality (VR)—along with artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, and big data—is frequently considered by scholars and government officials as a critically important tool for innovating humanities teaching and research (Shahroom & Hussin, 2018; Wu, 2018). This article explores how Chinese humanities teachers perceive VR to innovate their research and teaching practices, and more importantly, how this digital approach shapes the imaginary of Chinese humanities education.

A brief history of VR in Chinese universities

The penetration of VR into Chinese universities can be traced back to the 1990s. Pan, Shi, and Lu (2000) suggest that VR had already become a hot research topic by 2000. This involved the top Chinese universities, including Zhejiang University and Tsinghua University, where Chinese researchers had already conducted a series of VR-related projects before 2000. However, most of these projects were ‘monopolized’ by the science and engineering faculties and very few humanities researchers were involved in VR-related practices before 2000 in China.

Much VR-related research in art, entertainment, and communication has been conducted and published in the United States since the early 1990s (e.g. Bates, 1992). However, such pioneering thinking around VR’s future application in humanities research was rarely seen in Chinese universities during the 1990s, at least according to the available academic literature. Despite a dialogic relation being desired, the reality in China is that it is much easier for science and engineering researchers to cross over to subjects in the humanities, rather than vice versa. This unbalanced literacy in VR technologies further makes the field of humanities more precarious and less independent—as we note in the following showcase of VR applications.

VR content production

As the role of VR content has been increasingly recognized and highlighted by the market, it is no surprise to see humanities researchers actively participating in VR content production. Our fieldwork observation indicates that many young researchers in China believe that integrating digital technologies into their research or regular practice can lead to enhanced benefits and a more substantial impact on their academic careers. This shows a similar trend to Western higher education in the humanities, where industry professionals are sought after by universities to participate in teaching and research practice to help students to become ‘industry ready’ (Ashton, 2009). Ben (pseudonym), a Professor of Art Design at a university in North China, who had supervised his students in designing many VR games and animations, suggested that experts with abundant industry experience may be more helpful for students to realize students’ own value:

Besides the resource of our university, it is necessary for our studio to provide high salaries for the front-line staff with passion and practical experience in the video game industry as our tutors. We need to actively create chances for our students to be involved in the real-world practice of video game production in those top enterprises. (Interview via WeChat on September 19, 2020)

With the rising passion for digital technologies and increasing collaboration between universities and industries, Chinese universities have become an ideal place for the government to place its high expectations of VR content production. In 2017, for instance, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism approved the Beijing Film Academy’s request to set up the Key Lab of Immersive and Interactive Animation. This lab has produced a series of VR content on the theme of Chinese history and cultural heritage, which has been praised by the state media, The People’s Daily, for combining VR technology with Chinese culture, tourism, and patriotism education (Zhou, 2018). However, most of the VR content produced by university teachers is government-led or industry-led, rather than creativity-led.

VR content contests

Another opportunity for humanities teachers to build links with the government and industry in the name of VR is to organize VR content contests. Even if organizing VR contests were explained as an active attempt of humanities education to contribute to China’s wave of digitalization, some industry professionals might disagree. Yu Ling (pseudonym), who was the content producer in a well-known Chinese VR enterprise (anonymous), said in the interview:

I was once invited to be the judge for a VR contest by a university. When I talked to the university teachers, I realized they don’t know VR very well. Most of them are not from a VR background. They started to engage in VR to apply for funding from the government or gaining sponsors from industries. And some of the “VR” they talk about is not even the real VR in the professional sense, but just 360-degree video. (Interview with Yu Ling in Beijing on April 12, 2019)

The industry comments on VR content contests organized by the Chinese humanities teachers reflect the disadvantages faced by the humanities sector when participating in VR practice with their industry partners. The purpose of humanities teachers organizing VR competitions were described as an attempt to integrate their professional knowledge with VR industry. However, during the process of knowledge exchange, humanities teachers in VR content contests mostly took on passive roles due to their high dependence on external technical and financial support. As a result, the value of the ‘expert knowledge’ of the humanities was tacitly overlooked and undervalued, thereby undermining the importance of academia in a knowledge-based society.

VR education

VR has also been widely seen as an innovative technology for enhancing learning experiences in universities (Shahroom & Hussin, 2018; Wu, 2018). Following this trend, the Chinese government actively provides VR education with funding and related social resources to further promote the agenda of the Humanities Education reform.¹ By 2020, over 1000 virtual and simulated courses produced by Chinese university teachers had received Ministry of Education funding (Wu, 2018).²

However, it is almost impossible for most humanities researchers to complete VR content production independently; this lack of proficiency provides VR enterprises with an opportunity to create a new business model by collaborating with Chinese universities. However, the sustainability of collaborative relationships between industries and universities in China is fragile without the government funding. Daisy (pseudonym), who is a lecturer at a university in Beijing (anonymous), commented:

Sometimes, we contacted tech enterprises for collaboration, hoping that they could provide some support for our VR-related event. But finally, we realized that the ultimate purpose of those enterprises to sponsor our event is always to seek more opportunities to get some funding via university from the government. It is associated with the government policy that the Ministry of Education launched an education project regarding virtual and simulation courses. The funding for each project can feed many VR enterprises. (interview via WeChat on July 7, 2021)

Daisy’s observation sheds light on why technology enterprises are keen to sponsor VR contests in Chinese universities. The government’s involvement in VR practice offers mutual benefits: it facilitates access to government funding for enterprises and enhances the exchange of skills between academia and industry. Despite this, the circulation of skills is usually a one-way interaction from industries to universities, and not the reverse.

Ideological shifts in Chinese humanities education

The previous discussion disclosed the reliance of VR practices in Chinese universities on technical and financial support from industries and the government. It reflects an intensified trend of ‘education for profit’, a development agenda dating back to the 1990s (Jing Wang, 2004). However, such a profit-driven approach is at odds with both socialism and traditional Chinese culture.

Influenced by Confucian ideals, such as ‘be content with a simple but virtuous life’,³ money and other forms of material enjoyment have always been seen as undignified pursuits for Chinese scholars. However, what traditional Chinese scholars once criticized as undignified has become a ‘new normal’ in the context of China’s new cultural industries. Following the national campaign of ‘mass entrepreneurship and innovation’ (gov.cn, 2015), it has become common for Chinese university teachers to start businesses or form partnerships with industries, as seen in the various VR practices mentioned above.

Consequently, the criteria for defining an ‘ideal researcher/scholar’ in Chinese higher education has shifted. Now, accomplishments achieved in entrepreneurial activities are valued alongside teaching performance and academic publications in the assessment for professional titles (MHRSS, 2017). In such a social environment, the boundary between teacher and entrepreneur is blurred. This shift has caused humanities teachers to move from safeguarding the collective spirit of Chinese scholar-officials, deeply rooted in Confucian ideals and respect for knowledge, to becoming academic entrepreneurs driven by individual interests, profit and power.

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“This study has sought to show how a lack of critical thinking when engaging with VR technology places the role of China’s humanities education in an inferior status to those who work in industries.”

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This study does not conclude that the influence of VR on China’s humanities education is entirely negative. Rather, it has sought to show how a lack of critical thinking when engaging with VR technology places the role of China’s humanities education in an inferior status to those who work in industries. Furthermore, this article has also shown that the shifting role of Chinese humanities scholars in contemporary Chinese society has catalyzed a series of ideological shifts, including the devaluation of tradition and knowledge as well as the worship of entrepreneurship and wealth. Therefore, what deserves further attention is not the fact that digital technologies have become dominant in humanities education, but rather the future of critical thinking in a time when pragmatic problem solvers are in high demand.

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Footnotes

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References

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Recommended citation

Shan, Y. (August, 2024). Can virtual reality innovate the future of Chinese humanities education?. Critical Augmented and Virtual Reality Researchers Network (CAVRN). https://cavrn.org/can-virtual-reality-innovate-the-future-of-chinese-humanities-education/

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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