The School of Management Colloquium consists of a series of lectures and seminars given by leading scholars of the management field, designed to increase students’ academic and critical thinking abilities. The colloquium kicked off with its inaugural session on October 22, 2020. The college successfully invited Dr. Wan Xiang, a tenured professor at Ohio State University, to give an online seminar titled “What is an interesting empirical research topic?” More than 120 students and faculty members attended, and Dr.Fan Xuemei, Deputy Dean, presided over the session.

Dr. Wanxiang first introduced the core components of academic writing, inviting the audience to share their opinions on which components are most important. He also shared how different journals focus on different priorities in different steps of the review process. Next, Dr. Wan discussed the theoretical motivations and empirical motivations that define what an interesting topic is with examples from his own research. Finally, Dr. Wan shared some tips on how to publish in international journals and answered questions from the audience.

Professor Fan thanked Dr.Wan on behalf of the school and stated that the college will continue to host the colloquium as a platform for international exchange to foster the high quality of academic atmosphere expected by both the students and the faculty.