On 3 November 2025, Professor Áine Sheil, former Dean of the School of Arts and Creative Technologies at the University of York and an internationally renowned scholar of opera and music, delivered an insightful academic lecture titled "What is Performance Studies and What can Musicians Learn from it " in the fifth-floor lecture hall of the HBU-UCLan School of Media, Communication and Creative Industries.  

As a leading authority in the field of musicology, Professor Sheil has published numerous influential papers in top-tier journals such as the Cambridge Opera Journal and the Journal of the Royal Musical Association, with her academic monographs widely recognised within the discipline. She has led multiple delegations to visit renowned institutions in Beijing, Shanghai, and other cities across China, and serves as a visiting professor at the China Conservatory of Music. Several of her former doctoral students now hold academic positions at universities including the University of Glasgow and the University of Leeds.  

During the lecture, Professor Sheil explored the origins and evolution of performance studies as an interdisciplinary field, advocating for an expansion beyond the confines of stage-based art to encompass diverse forms such as everyday life, rituals, sports, and identity practices within the scope of "performance." She further elaborated on the profound impact of performance studies on musicology and artistic research, opening new interdisciplinary horizons for the faculty and students in attendance.  

The lecture fostered a rich academic atmosphere, with Professor Sheil's extensive knowledge and lucid reasoning inspiring deep reflection on the intersections of performance and musicology. Her insights also offered valuable perspectives on the interdisciplinary integration and international development of the arts.

More than 100 faculty members and students from the HBU-UCLan School of Media, Communication and Creative Industries, College of Arts at Hebei University, College of the Arts at Hebei Agricultural University and external art training institutions participated in the lecture, which concluded with resounding applause.