The College of Humanities and Law (School of Intellectual Property) at Shandong University of Science and Technology (SDUST) is a teaching and research unit where legal studies form the core, while literature, management, education, and other disciplines interpenetrate and develop together. Established in January 1997 as the Department of Humanities, it was restructured into the College of Humanities and Law in January 2002. In December 2017, the University approved the establishment of the School of Intellectual Property, which operates jointly with the College of Humanities and Law. In May 2023, the University established the College of Rural Revitalization, which is affiliated with the College of Humanities and Law.

The College of Humanities and Law comprises three departments: Law, Public Administration, and Chinese Language and Literature. Its undergraduate programs include Law, Law (Experimental Class in International Legal Affairs), Public Administration, and Chinese Language and Literature (including experimental classes). At the graduate level, the College offers a doctoral program in Resources and Environmental Protection Law, a first-level master’s degree program in Law, and professional master’s degrees in Juris Master (JM), Master of Public Administration (MPA), and Master of International Chinese Language Education. It has one provincial key discipline and four provincial or ministerial research centers (laboratories).

Currently, the College enrolls 797 undergraduate students, 298 full-time master’s students, and 313 part-time master’s students. The faculty consists of 83 staff members, including 73 full-time teachers, 42 with senior academic titles, and 64 holding doctoral degrees. The College boasts three provincial-level talents, one provincial teaching master, and three provincial-level research innovation teams.

The Law program has been recognized as a national first-class undergraduate program, and International Law has been designated as a national first-class undergraduate course. The College also has two provincial first-class undergraduate courses, one provincial model course for ideological and political education, and one provincial legal practice teaching base. It has undertaken one national-level teaching reform project and three provincial-level projects, supervised 19 national-level innovation and entrepreneurship training programs, and received over ten provincial teaching achievement awards.

The College upholds the fundamental mission of cultivating virtue and talent, emphasizing the quality of talent development. The Rule of Law Education Party Branch has been recognized as a National Model Party Branch. The Youth Music for Rural Revitalization practice team has received commendation letters from the Ministry of Education and the Communist Youth League Central Committee. Four practice teams have been named national outstanding practice teams. Over the past five years, our students have received four national honors and 22 provincial honors, along with more than 370 national and provincial awards in professional academic competitions. The rates of further study and employment among graduates have seen significant breakthroughs.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the College has undertaken 39 provincial or ministerial research projects, including five horizontal projects with individual funding exceeding one million yuan. It has published 22 monographs and 369 high-quality academic papers, released five issues of the Digital Law Review, established three new municipal-level think tanks, and received 27 policy advisory reports that have been acknowledged or adopted by municipal or higher-level authorities. The College has also won over ten provincial or ministerial awards.

The College has established academic exchanges and cooperative projects with more than ten universities and research institutions in six countries and regions, including the University of Auckland (New Zealand), the Athens University of Economics and Business (Greece), and St. Mary's University (United States). It has admitted and trained over twenty international students. Domestically, the College collaborates with more than eighty enterprises and institutions to build internship and practice bases.

Over the past three decades, the College has produced nearly ten thousand outstanding graduates, including national and provincial talents, government officials, and successful entrepreneurs.

Looking ahead, the College will continue to be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implement the spirit of the university’s Fourth Party Congress, and uphold the philosophy of being energetic, grounded and harmonious. It will adhere to the approach of integrating teaching, research, discipline development, and talent cultivation, contributing to the University’s goal of building itself into a high-level application-oriented research university led by engineering with distinctive features.