On November 22, 2022 (Tuesday), School of General Education Distinguished Lecture Series #1 was held. Professor Yuejia Luo from Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University delivered a lecture titled The Essence and Regulation of Stress -- Brain, Behavior and Self-Management.

Associate Vice President of UIC (Student Development), Acting Dean of SGE Professor Stella Cho gave her opening remark to brief the audience on the lecture and introduce SGE. Established in September, School of General Education aims to provide, develop and coordinate a broad general education curriculum for cultivating students’ knowledge, skills, values and global outlook needed to be well-rounded professionals, responsible citizens, and lifelong learners.

UIC has been and will continue to emphasize on the psychological health of students in addition to their academic performances. For this end, we set up a range of Experiential Learning Courses, like Emotional Intelligence offered by SGE-WPEC, which is very much related to the issue of mental health. The lecture will help in strengthening students’ awareness of mental health issues and their ability to solve related problems.

Professor Luo is the former Head of Faculty of Psychology and director of Mental Health Key Laboratory of Chinese Academy of Sciences at Beijing Normal University. He is also the winner of National Distinguished Young Scholars Fund and among the first batch of national candidates for the "New Century Talents Project". Besides, Professor Luo is listed for the “Hundred Talents Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences” and receives special allowance from the State Council.

The Essence and Regulation of Stress -- Brain, Behavior and Self-Management delivered by Professor Luo has attracted over 400 students and teachers both on-site and online. During the lecture, Professor Luo introduced the concept of stress and its impact on the brain. He also explained the way of cognitive processing under pressure and gave advice on self-management of stress. In the end, Professor Luo interacted with the students on how to deal with our daily pressure and how to do what we can to help those who suffer from overstress and even depression. The lecture has impressed the audience by being scientifically informing, enlightening and conducive to our everyday response to stress. The event was a success and the audience would expect to attend more lectures like this in the future.