{
  "id": 15833554,
  "title": "China university offers course pushing students to call strangers to build confidence, social skills",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/china-university-offers-course-pushing-students-to-call-strangers-to",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-21T02:00:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3371570/china-university-offers-course-pushing-students-call-strangers-build-confidence-social-skills"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "At Nanjing University in eastern China, a course called \"Oral Expression\" has gained popularity among students since its launch in 2015. Created by former television producer Xu Kai, the course challenges students to call strangers and interview them over the phone. The assignment, which students find difficult due to the reluctance of people to answer calls from strangers, aims to build confidence, improve communication skills, and foster empathy. Despite some students dropping the course, many who completed it requested Xu to keep the assignment. Xu believes that the traditional value of \"do more, speak less\" has hindered personal development and social skills. He hopes the course will help new students adapt to their surroundings and compensate for what they may have missed in their elementary education.",
  "summary": "An unconventional course at prestigious Nanjing University encourages students to call strangers to hone their social skills, challenging the traditional value of “do more, speak less”. At the top-tier institution in Jiangsu province, eastern China, former television producer and director Xu Kai launched a course called “Oral Expression” in 2015. Over the years, it has become one of the students’…",
  "key_points": [
    "Nanjing University launched \"Oral Expression\" course in 2015.",
    "Students call strangers to interview over phone.",
    "Course aims to build confidence, communication skills, empathy."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Prioritizing active verbal engagement over traditional silence helps students overcome social barriers and compensates for gaps in early education to prepare them for modern interpersonal communication.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}