Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Hopkins-Nanjing Center 2016 Commencement


The Hopkins-Nanjing Center's 30th Anniversary Celebration kicked off on June 17 with commencement at the HNC. Congratulations to to the class of 2016!

The commencement ceremony featured keynote remarks by Lisa Heller, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and Zhou Wei, Deputy Director-General at the Jiangsu Province Foreign Affairs Office. President of Nanjing University, Chen Jun and President of Johns Hopkins University, Ronald J. Daniels also made remarks to the class of 2016.

2016 MAIS graduates

Emily Shea, International Student Representative

International student and MAIS graduate, Emily Shea, and Chinese student, Caixiao Chen were selected as student representatives. In the spirit of the HNC's bilingual community, student representatives delivered their addresses in their target languages.  Below is the full transcript of Emily's speech.

尊敬的各位来宾、老师,亲爱的同学们,

大家好! 我叫沈琳,我是今年二年级硕士班的毕业生。

今天,我很荣幸能够代表2016届毕业生向培养我们的中美中心表示最诚挚的感谢!

这次的毕业典礼意义非凡,因为今年恰好是中美中心成立30周年。我很高兴能够在中心三十而立的时候为中心献上一份祝福,也很高兴与大家一起见证中心在经过三十年的努力和奋斗之后,达到了一个新的高度,即,在一个多文化环境下,教育和培养来自中国、美国其他国家的研究生,对中美关系的发展和东西方之间的文化交流与传承产生深远的影响。

在此,谨代表2016全体毕业生,感谢中美中心对我们的教育和培养,感谢各位领导和老师对我们的关爱和教诲,感谢家人对我们的支持和鼓励,感谢身边朋友给我们带来的快乐和帮助。

每当回想起我们这一年来的丰富多彩的活动,我就为自己能成为2016届毕业生的一份子而感到无比幸运

Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels presenting graduation certificates 

你们具有很强学习能力和逻辑思维能力, 你们会用多种语言讨论你们所关心的话题;
你们不惧任何挑战,不断勇往直前;

最重要的是,你们懂得如何去充分享受生活,是你们,让中美中心充满了美好的回忆和快乐的时光。

Nanjing University President Chen Jun presenting graduate certificates

我相信,像这样一群优秀的毕业生,一定会给我们这个世界带来积极的影响。

同学们,我们都是富有才华、潜力无限的人。中心赋予我们最宝贵的财富之一,她将我们紧紧地聚在一起,让我们之间情谊的纽带得以建立。无论是世界各国的和平发展,还是对我们个人未来的幸福生活而言,这纽带都弥足珍贵。 

Emily Shea with her fellow MAIS graduates

也许在今天毕业之后,我们就要各奔东西我希望大家不要因为今日的离别而感到悲伤因为今天,我们只是和我们中心的学习生活告别而不是和各位同窗永别。就我个人来说,我对未来充满了期待。因为我一直在想,我们未来会在什么时候,在哪里重逢?在上海,还是在华盛顿?或者在巴黎,一边喝咖啡一边回忆往事?或者在东京,一边喝红酒一边谈论我们各自的事业和家庭?国际关系专业的学生拥有的一定国际性的友谊!我坚信,当中美中心庆祝成立60周年的时候,我们仍然会发现,我们的跨国友谊彼此的国际职业生涯,都仍在传承中心的精神,并将这种精神发扬光大
 
Photos courtesy of Carl McLarty

Friday, June 10, 2016

30 Things to Love about the HNC

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center’s 30th Anniversary Celebration is just one week away! In honor of the 30th anniversary year, we have compiled a list of 30 things to love about the HNC.
  1. HNC graduates become part of the 2600 HNC alumni network who occupy positions of responsibility in all areas of China’s global relations.
  2. The HNC has intellectual freedom to discuss, debate and learn with Chinese peers and faculty.
  3. HNC students form a dragon boat team and participate in the Nanjing dragon boat competition, a time honored tradition in China. This year the HNC team placed third in the final competition!
    2016 HNC Dragon Boat Team
  4. Nanjing is less than a 2 hour train ride away from the international center of Shanghai.
  5. HNC Students and faculty have access to the HNC’s uncensored library with over 120,000 volumes in Chinese and English.  
    Hopkins-Nanjing Center Library
  6. Students get one-on-one attention from faculty members with small class sizes and weekly office hours.
  7. HNC grads can be found at Apple, the U.S. Treasury, U.S. State Department, the U.S.-China Business Council and in jobs where China matters around the world which emphasizes China’s continued importance.
  8. Students have free access to a 24/7 fitness room at the HNC in addition to discounted rates at all of Nanjing University’s facilities. 
  9. HNC students have the opportunity to take multidisciplinary classes—from environmental law to game theory to anthropology.
  10. There are opportunities to learn about Chinese culture through calligraphy, Tai Qi and Erhu classes.
  11. Every year HNC students form a student band (or two) and perform at HNC events throughout the year.
  12. The HNC has modern facilities including heating and dryers—a rarity in southern China.
  13. Double the holidays! The HNC celebrates Chinese and American holidays like the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Halloween and Thanksgiving.
  14. HNC students (and professors!) hang out and chat at the HNC’s student-run coffee shop.
  15. The HNC career treks bring students to organizations in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing to hear firsthand from professionals in the field. 
    2016 Beijing Trek
  16. The HNC hosts talks from leaders in the field. The HNC has welcomed Former US Sectary of State, Henry Kissinger, Former US President George Bush and former US Ambassador to China, John Huntsman Jr.—just to name a few.
  17. The bilingual environment extends outside of the classroom. International and Chinese students live together as roommates in the student dorms.
  18. The HNC students participate in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. In 2012 and 2016, the HNC team placed in the finals in DC—an extraordinary result for a small institution with no law school.
    HNC 2016 Moot Court team at the Jessup International Law Moot Court finals
  19. Faculty members take students outside of the classroom on field trips to international organizations, power plants, rural villages and court rooms.
  20. The Hopkins-Nanjing Center makes every effort to support students with funding their education. 100% of students who apply for financial aid by the application deadline of February 1st receive a fellowship.
  21. There are endless activities to take part in: board games in the lounge, movie showings, student interest groups that range from philosophy to basketball.
  22. Students, faculty and staff show off their skills in ping pong, badminton and billiards tournaments.
  23. A full-time Career Services Officer invites organizations to the HNC, holds skills workshops and provides assistance with internship and job searches. 
  24. HNC students give back to the Nanjing community by volunteering as student teachers at local schools. 
  25.  The HNC is a multicultural community with about 15% of students coming from countries other than the US and China. This year we have students from South Korea, Israel, Jamaica, Peru and Russia—just to name a few.
  26. Students use holiday and summer breaks to travel all around China and Asia. Students’ self-travel have taken them to places like Japan, Cambodia, Sichuan, Huangshan and Guangdong.
  27. The HNC is located in the heart of Nanjing and yet close to Xuanwu Park and Purple Mountain.
  28. The HNC curriculum reflects current issues facing China’s global impact and US-China relations. Courses range from China’s Development and Environment to the Politics of Rural China.
  29. MAIS students research, write and orally defend theses all in Chinese. Past topics have included the Role of the Maritime Militia and the Challenges of Building a Child Protection System in China.
  30. The HNC was founded just after the US and China formalized relations. With 30 years of history, the HNC continues its longstanding commitment to US-China relations.

Thursday, June 2, 2016

International Dispute Resolution Course by HNC Professor Mushkat



Hi Everyone!

Today I wanted to highlight one of my favorite classes at the center I’m taking this semester—Professor Mushkat’s International Dispute Resolution course. MAIS students at the Hopkins Nanjing Center are required to take at least one class in every concentration. While I’m not concentrating in International Law at the HNC, but I took this course to fulfill this requirement. On top of that, the course sounded really interesting to me as it touches on legal aspects and mechanisms vital to international relations and negotiations.


First and foremost, I will say I have the utmost respect for Professor Mushkat. I say this because I am definitely challenged in her class even though it is in my native language. However, Professor Mushkat makes the class accessible for non-law concentration students and non-native English language students. She provides useful readings, which she supplements with her succinct in-class lectures. 

Don’t expect to be sitting through lectures the entire class though because she will test your knowledge and ask for your opinion on dispute resolution methods. This will require you to understand context and meanings of legal ‘jargon’.

My favorite part of the class though are the simulation modules you begin halfway through the semester. The first module our class tackled was the Mekong River Dispute. Everyone in the class was assigned positions in a conference dealing with resolving dam building disputes along the Mekong River. I was the ASEAN 2016 Chair represented by Laos. Ultimately, we came to a successful resolution but only after some elbow jabbing. 

This week we are going to tackle the dispute between Georgia and Russia where we will evaluate the effectiveness of filing a case with the International Court of Justice. Lots of reading to do!

Written by Chelsea Toczauer, MAIS Student