Hopkins-Nanjing Center Blog

It's fall break at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center so students are spending the week getting to know the city of Nanjing, visiting other parts of China, or traveling within Asia! Our DC-based admissions office is open for business today and here to answer your application questions, but we will be closed for Thanksgiving from Wednesday, November 26 through Friday, November 28. Safe travels to our students and happy Thanksgiving to our American applicants! Thanksgiving 2013 at the HNC

Looking to get ahead on your HNC application over the Thanksgiving break? Join our online admissions chat on Monday, November 24 from 9:00AM to 10:00AM EST. Chatting with us will be admissions representatives Katie Brooks (HNC ’09) and Lauren Szymanski (HNC ’12), as well as current student Nanfei Yan. Join us to hear firsthand experience and valuable advice, and be sure to ask any questions you may have about the application process, academics, or student life. At the scheduled time, click here to join the chat and log in as a guest . We look forward to speaking with you!

The weekend of November 7-9, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center hosted its annual Alumni Weekend.  Chinese and international alumni return to the HNC to reconnect with former classmates, but current students were also able to join in the fun.  Current MAIS students Emily Shea and Tom Holt send a report: Emily: Every November, the HNC invites alumni back and puts on a variety of different events for them during our ‘Alumni Weekend.’ Current students get plenty of opportunities to participate, meet with the alumni, and learn about career development. This year, Professor Webb and Professor Hua Tao held a conference called, “The 21st Century New Silk Road,” in which they discussed the economic, geopolitical, environmental and religious impact of increased globalization and connectedness between China, US, and the Middle East.   On Friday, there were sports related activities to sign up for, like soccer, basketball, and even a Zumba class. Friday night’s happy hour was packed ...

Current HNC student Brandon Yeh and fellow members from the HNC's Energy, Resources, and Environment (ERE) Group recently had the opportunity to attend the First Corporate Social Responsibility Awards and Green & Clean Forum in Nanjing.  Read on for Brandon's reflections on the event: Students from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center's Energy, Resources, and Environment (ERE) Group, and Dr. Roger Raufer - the new Resident Professor of ERE at the HNC - attended the First Corporate Social Responsibility Awards and Green & Clean Forum on October 16th, 2014. The event was held at the Nanjing Hilton Riverside, and hosted by the European Union Chamber of Commerce (EUCC) in China. Brandon (3rd from left) with classmates and Professor Raufer The event was widely attended by representatives of locally operated international and domestic businesses as well as other professionals. Many of the attendees took part in a panel discussion that focused on their current efforts to add...

Last weekend the HNC's very own basketball team played their second game of the season against the Nanjing University Business School team and won! HNC students are an active group outside of the classroom.  In addition to the basketball team, students can join the Dragon Boat team or compete in the annual ping-pong tournament.  Outside of sports, students are able to take extracurricular classes in erhu or calligraphy, volunteer with the Migrant School Learning Initiative, join the Energy, Resources and Environment interest group, participate in the Student Business Exchange, or take advantage of many other extra-curricular and co-curricular activities available at the HNC. Congratulations again to the team!  中美中心加油！ HNC students, faculty, and staff cheer on the team!

It's hard to overstate the importance of essays as part of your application to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.  This is a valuable opportunity to let the Admissions Committee get to know you as more than test scores, transcripts, and a resume.   Applicants to all of our programs (Certificate, MAIS, and the HNC Certificate/SAIS MA) are required to submit a personal statement.  We're excited to announce a new prompt for the personal statement this year!  Please see below:   Discuss one event, whether historical or personal, that influenced your decision to study China. How do you expect Sino-global relations to impact your future, and how do you believe your time at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center will assist you in achieving your long-term career objectives? A few tips when writing this essay: 1)  Spell check! 2) Be specific.  Applicants with the best essays give concrete examples about how they became interested in China and what motivated them to conti...

HNC student blogger and banwei member Emily Shea sent the following pictures from last Friday's Halloween bash at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center:

On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke at SAIS about US-China relations.  Prior to giving his speech, he met with a group HNC Certificate/SAIS MA students (pictured).  Below are his remarks translated into Chinese.  To read his speech in English, click here .  To view the webcast, click here . 国务卿约翰·克里（John Kerry）就美中关系发表讲话 约翰·霍普金斯高级国际研究学院（Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies） 国务卿克里：谢谢。十分感谢你，纳泽（Dean Nasr）院长。我有幸很早就认识瓦利(Vali)。我在参议院工作期间，他就是一位十分重要的顾问。我记得，早年在为阿富汗、巴基斯坦问题，特别是阿富汗问题工作时，来到国务院与他和理查德•霍尔布鲁克（Richard Holbrooke）等人会见的情景。瓦利，谢谢你的莅临。感谢你为SAIS贡献你的智慧。 十分、十分感谢SAIS全体人员使我今天有机会来到这里，与你们谈谈涉及与中国的这种特殊关系的一些想法。这是很重要的关系。我很高兴来到这里，眼前有很多移动设备。（笑声）这是一个崭新的世界。我可以告诉你们，2004年我竞选总统期间，从来没有在讲话的时候面对这种长方形设备一字排开的阵势。（笑声） 那时候往往只有一个人，就是对方人员听你说的每一句话，为的是给你找麻烦，如果你没有自找麻烦的话。 无论如何，再过几个小时我就准备动身了。实际上，我会直接从这里前往机场-- 按照国务卿经常性的出访规律 --今晚前往巴黎（Paris），明天举行会晤，然后去北京、马斯喀特（Muscat），讨论伊朗核项目问题，再回到北京出席与中国政府的双边会谈，然后返回，可能回到华盛顿（Washington）。但现在很多情况都没有定，很难说到哪里。所以我很高兴有机会在动身前与你们大家谈谈实际问题，谈谈一个关键的问题。 这所学院...

HNC Certificate/SAIS MA student Tyler Makepeace reflects on one of his favorite classes at the HNC and the experience of writing academic papers in Chinese: One of my best classes at the HNC was undoubtedly Chinese Government and Politics, taught by Professor Qi Lingling. Every day she would begin the class by handing out a news article related to the class, and after giving us time to read, she would begin a short discussion about the article, which would always flow right into our lecture. Qi Lingling was not only extremely knowledgeable about Chinese politics, and particularly in village-level elections, but was also passionate about analyzing contemporary Chinese government and politics and methods for reform. She would often stop in the middle of a lecture, and, sometimes rather abruptly, state “Students, I have something troubling to tell you…” and then launch into a discussion about a recent scandal or issue. For her final assessment, Professor Qi Lingling requested t...