On the afternoon of September 24, Professor Christoph Fabian Freyenhagen, Director of Collaborative Programmes at the School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex, UK, and Dr. Matthew Charles Lodder, Director of Undergraduate Teaching in Art History, visited International College（IC）, Xiamen University(XMU) upon invitation. The two sides held in-depth discussions on cutting-edge topics in AI art history, AI trends, and international cooperation programs. The event was part of the college's "Bridging East and West, Building Dreams Ahead" lecture series, aiming to broaden the international academic horizons of faculty and students and further deepen cooperation between Chinese and British universities in the field of creative art and design.

At 1 p.m., the themed lecture "AI Art History" was held in Conference Room 101, No.4 Main Building. Professor Lodder guided the audience through the development of AI art. The lecture began with Harold Cohen's AARON in 1972, the earliest AI program used for artistic creation, and concluded with Refik Anadol's 2022 exhibition "Unsupervised" at MoMA, which used generative large language models to create psychedelic images. The two projects echoed each other from beginning to end, and through them Professor Lodder led the audience to examine the evolution of the themes of "creativity" and "autonomy," raising the question that runs throughout: Can computers truly become artists? Using time as its axis, the lecture presented the development of AI art to the audience, captivating them while prompting deeper reflection on AI's impact on art and its future.

During the lecture, faculty and students engaged in interactive discussions with the speaker on issues such as algorithmic ethics and artistic subjectivity. The venue was packed, with attendees not only from the International College but also faculty and students from other schools and units at Xiamen University, including the Institute of Creativity and Innovation and Tan Kah Kee College.

After the lecture, representatives from the University of Essex gave a presentation to faculty and students of the college. Founded in 1964, the University of Essex is a public research university located in the southeast of England, enjoying the reputation of "a small LSE( London School of Economics)." Its social science disciplines, including politics, economics, and sociology, all rank among the top ten in the UK. The university boasts a picturesque Colchester campus, is close to London, and has a cost of living far lower than the capital, making it an ideal choice for pursuing a cost-effective overseas education. With excellent teaching and research standards, it ranked 12th in the UK in The Guardian's 2026 UK university rankings. Sir Christopher Pissarides, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics, completed his undergraduate and master's degrees at the Department of Economics of the university.

As a partner institution of our college's SQA-AD (3+1) program, the university offers a wide range of articulation options. Specifically, students in the SQA-AD Creative Arts and Design program can articulate to directions such as Media and Digital Culture, Curation, Art History, Visual Culture, and Media Studies, while those in the Business program can articulate to directions such as Economics, Marketing Management, Media and Digital Culture, and International Affairs. During the presentation, detailed introductions were given on the curriculum design, entry requirements, and progression pathways of the above programs.

Subsequently, the two sides held a discussion in Conference Room 514. Zeng Shufan and Sun Shengxuan, teachers from our college's Art Teaching and Research Group, along with program staff, participated in the exchange. The discussion centered on topics such as the development direction of the Creative Arts and Design program and the needs of curriculum system development, and preliminary consensus was reached on further promoting the Creative Arts and Design direction of the 3+1 program.

This visit further consolidated the cooperative relationship between our college and the University of Essex, laying a more solid foundation for the two sides in joint talent cultivation, curriculum co-development, and academic resource sharing in the field of creative arts and design.

The "Bridging East and West, Building Dreams Ahead" lecture series is positioned around the core mission of "gathering renowned scholars from home and abroad, delving into the frontiers of academia and industry, and cultivating students' cross-cultural academic literacy and international vision." It integrates multidisciplinary academic and industry resources from various fields at home and abroad to create a regular branded academic event series that combines academic exchange, general education, industry-academia-research collaboration, and brand showcasing. The lecture series is co-hosted by the International College, the Zhangzhou Campus Management Committee, and other units.