The Animation Department of the School of Arts at Southeast University began enrolling undergraduate students in 2006, making it one of the earliest 985 universities in China to offer an animation major. In 2021, it was approved as a first-class undergraduate major construction point in Jiangsu Province. The Animation Department of the School of Arts at Southeast University adheres to the principle of cultivating virtue and talent, serving major national strategies, and aims to nurture high-level, interdisciplinary professionals with an interdisciplinary and international perspective, rich in humanistic concern and scientific spirit, possessing high artistic cultivation and creative abilities, understanding the current state and future trends of the domestic and international animation industry, familiar with animation principles and new media production processes, and able to adapt to dynamic changes in the industry.

The Animation Department boasts a teaching team that combines experienced, middle-aged, and young faculty members. 100% of the professional faculty hold doctoral degrees, and over 60% have overseas experience. The department includes provincial "333" Project candidates, provincial "Blue Project" candidates, provincial Zijin Cultural Talents, and industry association leaders. Many current faculty members have received national and provincial/ministerial-level project funding, published numerous papers in high-level journals (both Chinese and English), and guided many students to win honors in national and provincial/ministerial competitions. The Animation Department has established national-level excellent open courses, a national-level virtual simulation experimental platform, and provincial-level first-class offline courses. Several faculty members serve as project leaders for national social science projects and have published high-level papers in important domestic and international journals. With the primary goal of cultivating high-caliber, multi-skilled talents, the curriculum is designed into three main modules: artistic literacy, applied art theory, and skills training. The Animation Department boasts facilities such as a virtual studio, recording lab, and non-linear editing lab, equipped with Dell graphics workstations, Apple workstations, HTC Vive virtual reality systems, DJI drones, Insta360 panoramic cameras, Noitom motion capture systems, Uitimaker industrial-grade 3D printers, and Raspberry Pi interactive media experimental kits. Animation students are actively involved in major domestic and international competitions, online platforms, and social practice activities. Employers generally report that Southeast University's animation program students have strong potential, well-rounded skills, strong learning abilities, and broad career prospects.