As the one of the time-honored colleges but with vitality at Northwest Universtiy, the College of Philosophy and Social Studies and the Maxism College are one entity with two titles, not only shouldering the university-wide responsibility of ideological and political education, but also undertaking the nurturing of talented undergraduate and graduate majors. The College of Philosophy and Social Studies (Maxism College), formerly known as the Department of Applied Social Science (Maxism-Leninism Teaching and Research Department) was established in 1950, the then Ideological and Political Teaching Committee of Northwest Universtiy.
In 1958, the Committee’s four sub-teaching groups----Modern Revolution History of China, Political Economy, Maxism-Leninism Fundamentals, Dialectical and Historical Materialism were merged under one umbrella----Maxism-Leninism Teaching and Research Unit, hence better faculty and strengthened team work. Prominent professors such as Duanfen Liu (President of NWU from 1954 to 1966), Shengwu Guo, Qizhi Zhang (President of NWU from 1985 to 1991), Liancheng He used to teach in the college.
The year 1976 witnessed the fall of the Cultural Revolution in China. Wrong deeds and thoughts were set right, and everything was brought back to the right track, so was the Maxism-Leninism Teaching practice. Three teaching groups----History of the Communist Party of China, Political Economy and Philosophy were restored in the following year and in 1978 the School of Political Theories was offically established. In 1982, the Maxism-Leninism Teaching Unit was rebuilt and with development in 1990 it was renamed the Maxism-Leninsm Teaching Department.
To better meet the demand of the society for talents with better application abiltiy, the department established the School of Applied Social Science, starting its one-entity-two-title history and afterwards four undergraduate majors ----Finance, Philosophy, Social Work and International Politics came into shape. In 2009, new policies from the Publicity Department of CPC Central Committee and Ministry of Education required further enhancement and improvement of ideological and political teaching in higher education institutes. The School of Applied Social Science (Maxism-Leninism Teaching Department) grasped the chance to apply for a title promotion successfully, and the College of Philosophy and Social Studies (Maxism College) of Northwest University was founded.
Presently the college hosts five teaching and research departments such as the Outline of Modern and Contemporary Histoy of China, Mao Zedong Thought and two schools----Philosophy, Sociology and Social Work. And it boasts an elite faculty, including 5 Ph.D. supervisors, 28 Master tutors, 11 professors, 17 associate professors, 20 lecturers and 17 Ph.D. holders, spreading reasonably in age, education background and professional title. A promising and properly-structured teaching crew for further development is fledgeling.
At the threshold of a new century, bearing in mind the university motto----Justice, Sincerety, Diligence, Modesty, the faculty of the College of Philosophy and Social Studies (Maxism College) will spare no effort to advance with time as a harmonious team and devote itself to the all-round development of the college.
