MSN 2026 Workshop on Digital Cultural Heritage, Intelligent Sensing, and Teaching Application

Workshop Organizers:

Prof. Liang CAI
Ningbo Tech University, China
Email: cailiang@nit.zju.edu.cn

Prof. Junhui Duan
Shanghai Business School, China
Email: jun-hui.duan@sbs.edu.cn

Dr. Shuangjuan ZHAN
South China University of Technology
Email: flsjzhan@scut.edu.cn

Dr. Meng CHENG
Ningbo Tech University, China
Email: mcheng@nbt.edu.cn

Dr. Yanchuan Geng
Ningbo University of Technology
Email: gengyanchuan@outlook.com

Dr. Danping WU
NingboTech University, China
Email: wdp@nbt.edu.cn

Dr. Lili ZHANG
Ningbo University of Finance and Economics
Email: zhanglili@nbufe.edu.cn

Short Biography of Organizers:

Prof. Liang Cai is a Professor at NingboTech University, China. His research focuses on the international dissemination of Eastern Zhejiang culture and global Chinese Studies. Since 2008, he has initiated the “Beyond the voice” project for Zhejiang culture international communication, publishing eight bilingual books. He serves as the Executive Editor-in-Chief of the Overseas Ningbo Studies series published by Zhejiang University Press. His works covers topics such as microfinance and China's regional development, the philosophy of Wang Yangming, and East Zhejiang scholarship in global dialogue. He has received multiple provincial-level teaching and research awards, including the First Prize of Zhejiang Provincial Teaching Achievement Award. His cultural communication initiatives have been recognized by the Ministry of Education and reported by over 200 media outlets including Guangming Daily.

 

Prof. Junhui Duan is Professor of English and Dean of the College of Business Foreign Languages at Shanghai Business School. He earned his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and World Literature from Sichuan University and completed postdoctoral research in the Department of English at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served as Visiting Professor at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, mentor for the “Young Sinologists” training program of China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Guest Professor at the International Business Officials Training Base of the Ministry of Commerce. His research spans Sino-Western literary theory, North American Sinology, Sino-American intellectual thought, digital humanities, and business culture. He has led or co-led three National Social Science Foundation projects along with multiple provincial- and university-level research and teaching reform projects, and directed two outstanding graduate courses. He is the author or co-author of four monographs and three translated books, and has published more than thirty articles in Chinese core journals. Professor Duan serves as a peer reviewer for the National Social Science Fund of China, the Chinese Academic Translation Project, national first-class curriculum evaluations, and numerous academic journals. He holds executive council memberships in the Chinese Classics Bilingual Studies Branch of the Chinese Pre-Qin History Society and the Shanghai Foreign Language Association, and is a council member of the Regional Culture Studies Committee of the Chinese and Foreign Language and Culture Comparative Society. He is a long-standing keynote expert for national English teacher training programs organized by the Ministry of Education and major presses (FLTRP, SFLEP, and Higher Education Press), and frequently serves as judge or chair of national foreign language competitions. His honors include the Second Prize for Outstanding Journal Works of Chongqing, recognition as a Mid-Young Backbone Teacher of Chongqing universities, First Prize in the Foreign Languages Teaching Competition at Sichuan International Studies University, University Excellent Teaching First Prize, and Excellent Research Achievement awards.

 

Dr. Shuangjuan ZHAN is Deputy Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at South China University of Technology. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from South China University of Technology, and her PhD from South China Normal University. Her research interests include foreign language education, internationalisation of higher education, country and area studies, and cross-cultural and translation studies. She has led over ten provincial and ministerial-level projects, including a Key Project of the National Social Science Fund of China. Her publications include more than 20 journal articles and 10 books, and several of her policy advisory reports have been commended by national and provincial leaders. She has been honored with multiple national and provincial teaching and research awards, including a Second Prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award, and was named a National Outstanding Teacher in Curriculum Ideological and Political Education by the Ministry of Education.

 

Dr. Meng CHENG is Vice Dean of International College, NingboTech University. He received the Bachelor degree and Master's degree in English Language and Literature from Wuhan University in 2002 and in 2005 respectively, and Doctor of Applied Language Sciences from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2019. His research interests include corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, and formal semantics. Currently his research focuses on the methodological synergy between corpus linguistics and political discourse analysis.

 

Dr. Yanchuan GENG is an Associate Professor and Vice Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Ningbo University of Technology. He holds a PhD in English Studies from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). His research spans sociolinguistics, digital humanities, and the intersection of ageing studies with cultural heritage transmission. Dr. Geng has published extensively on the role of digital technology in cultural transmission and the digital divide among older populations, with papers in leading international journals. He serves as Associate Editor of Cogent Arts & Humanities (ESCI) and on the editorial boards of Educational Gerontology (SSCI). His current work explores how intelligent sensing and digital platforms can bridge generational gaps in cultural heritage engagement, making him uniquely positioned at the intersection of cultural heritage studies and digital technology applications.

 

Dr. Danping WU is an Associate Professor at NingboTech University. She earned her PhD in Foreign Languages and Literature from Zhejiang University in 2021 and was selected as one of the Leading and Outstanding Talents of Ningbo in 2019. Her research interests cover discourse analysis, international communication of local culture, and college English teaching. Her current research focuses on the overseas dissemination of Hemudu culture. Meanwhile, she engages in in-depth research on academic English curriculum reform, PBL approach, and the development of foreign language textbooks under the New Liberal Arts initiative.

 

Dr. Lili ZHANG is a Lecturer at Ningbo University of Finance and Economics. She received her Doctor's degree in Education from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) in 2022. Her research covers local culture and intercultural communication, as well as intercultural communication and English education. As a core member of UNNC's “Local Studies and Education” research group, Dr. Zhang authored the monograph Cultivating Intercultural Communicative Competence Among Adolescents in County-Level High Schools. She has been awarded the honorary title of Distinguished Teacher of Ningbo City. Her current work primarily focuses on the intercultural dissemination and communication of local culture, exploring effective strategies for promoting local cultural narratives in cross-cultural contexts.

 

A Brief Description of Workshop:

       Cultural heritage is the collective memory of human civilization, encompassing tangible assets (historical architecture, archaeological sites, artifacts) and intangible expressions (traditional crafts, oral traditions, performing arts). However, cultural heritage faces unprecedented challenges: natural degradation, urbanization, climate change, and the gradual loss of traditional knowledge bearers. The rise of intelligent sensing technologies, including IoT, UAV-based remote sensing, computer vision, multimodal data fusion, and edge computing, offers transformative opportunities for the digitization, preservation, analysis, and dissemination of cultural heritage.

       Meanwhile, the MSN community's core expertise in mobility, sensing, and networking is directly applicable to cultural heritage scenarios. For instance, mobile robots and drones for heritage site mapping, wireless sensor networks for environmental monitoring of museums and archaeological sites, and mobile AR/VR systems for immersive cultural experiences. Crucially, an emerging and underexplored dimension is the Teaching Application of these technologies. Intelligent sensing and digital heritage tools are increasingly being adopted in classrooms, museums, and community learning environments to deliver immersive heritage education through AR/VR experiences; enable remote hands-on learning of traditional crafts via digital twins and haptic feedback; support bilingual and multilingual cultural heritage curricula using AI- powered content platforms; foster interdisciplinary STEAM education that integrates sensing technology with cultural history; and bridge generational knowledge gaps through digitally mediated teaching and mentoring.

       This workshop aims to bridge the gap between the sensing/networking research community and the cultural heritage domain, with a dedicated focus on how these technologies can transform teaching and learning. It will foster cross-disciplinary dialogue among researchers, educators, and technologists.

Potential Topics of Interest:

• IoT-enabled environmental monitoring for cultural heritage sites
• UAV/drone-based 3D scanning and photogrammetry of heritage structures
• Intelligent image processing for artifact restoration and documentation
• Wireless sensor networks for museum and archive environmental control
• Edge computing for real-time cultural heritage data analysis
• Mobile AR/VR systems for immersive cultural heritage experiences
• AR/VR-based teaching systems for cultural heritage education
• Digital twin platforms for classroom-based heritage learning
• AI-powered multilingual content platforms for cross-cultural teaching
• Intelligent sensing tools for skill transfer and craft pedagogy
• Gamification and interactive learning systems for cultural heritage
• Bilingual and multilingual heritage curricula supported by sensing technologies
• Human-computer interaction for inclusive and accessible heritage education
• Social sensing and crowd-sourced cultural heritage documentation
• Digital twin technologies for historical site management
• Deep learning for ancient text, painting, and artifact analysis
• Privacy-preserving data sharing for cultural heritage research
• Computational linguistics for cross-cultural heritage communication
• Blockchain for cultural heritage provenance and authentication
• Sustainable networking infrastructure for remote heritage sites
• Multi-modal data fusion for holistic heritage documentation
• Intelligent recommendation systems for personalized cultural tourism

Paper Submission Guidelines:

       All submissions should follow the IEEE 8.5″x 11″Two-Column Format. Each submission can have up to 6 pages. Authors of accepted papers are expected to present their papers at the workshop. All submissions to MSN 2026 must be uploaded to EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=msn2026

Important Dates:

• Sep. 20, 2026

  Paper Submission

• Oct. 30, 2026

  Author Notification

• Nov. 7, 2024

  Camera-ready

• Dec. 18-20, 2024

  Conference Date