Student Profile: Maria Belen Wu

 Name: Maria Belen Wu

Program: HNC Certificate '18/Johns Hopkins SAIS MA

Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Undergraduate Institution and Major: Johns Hopkins University ’18, International Studies, Economics

Fun Fact: I was born in Argentina, but my parents are actually immigrants from Shanghai. They moved to Argentina several years ago. My mom is a Chinese language teacher in Argentina. 

Tell us about your undergraduate experience. How did you become interested in China Studies?
When I first started college, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to focus on China studies or even do anything related to economics or international studies. I originally applied as a political science major. When I got there, I realized political science was too theoretical for me. I also learned that International Studies is one of the largest majors at Johns Hopkins University, and I thought this could be more relevant to me. I took my first international studies class and I loved it. I also added economics to my course load because I thought it would be a good quantitative skill to have. It turned out to be a really good combination. I have always been interested in China-Latin America relations because it’s very important in Argentina, where I am from. In fact, for the last several years, it has been a very hot topic in politics. I looked into taking a couple of China-focused classes at Johns Hopkins and I really got into the topic.

How did you first learn about the Hopkins-Nanjing Center?
When I was a freshman in college, I actually wasn’t sure what the HNC was. I learned more about the HNC/Johns Hopkins SAIS MA program my sophomore year. I came to learn that the HNC was an educational collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University. After visiting the HNC my sophomore winter, I decided to apply via the Johns Hopkins BA/SAIS MA program – offered to Johns Hopkins undergraduates – knowing fully well by that point that I wanted to focus on China studies.

Who has been your favorite professor here at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center?
Professor Hua Tao is definitely my favorite professor – he is so enthusiastic! Professor Hua Tao completely shattered my image of what Chinese professors are like: that they are typically a little more serious and formal, and usually have a more lecture-style class. Some professors are like that, which is totally fine. Some students enjoy that. Professor Hua Tao, on the other hand, is so passionate and wants to involve all of his students in classroom discussions – it’s really motivating. The topic of the class, ethnic minorities in China, was also super interesting. I had never really learned much about ethnic minorities in China prior to this course.

What are your summer/post-graduation plans?
For the summer, I am working as a summer analyst at JP Morgan Chase in Country Risk Management. This will be my second summer at JP Morgan Chase. I find this type of work to be very intellectually stimulating. It’s a place where I can apply my economics and international studies knowledge as well as my research skills. The New York office (where I will be) particularly deals a lot with Latin America and Western Europe. Working with Latin American countries also implies knowing about China because a lot of projects/investments going on in the region are actually China-funded, so having China knowledge is also very helpful. After my nine-week internship, I will be transitioning to Johns Hopkins SAIS DC, where I will be concentrating in Latin American studies, with a specialization in international finance. I thought it would be interesting to switch my focus to Latin America, since I have the necessary language skills and the China-knowledge background that I developed at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.

Any advice for prospective students?
As graduate students in China and at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, we learn a lot from our classes. The Hopkins-Nanjing Center in particular offers a lot of unique classes you would not be able to take elsewhere. But another thing that I think is important and even more special is the entire community. I’m really glad I was actually made to live on campus and I’m also glad I didn’t detach myself too much from the Center. Just living in this type of environment is so rewarding. We have Chinese roommates, with whom you can have long talks with at night, and on topics you wouldn’t necessarily cover in class but that are really interesting for actually getting to know the youth of China and their perspectives.  Even though I am Chinese by heritage, my grandparents and parents obviously have a different perspective on certain issues. So, I was really glad I got this experience in China. I really loved the community aspect and that was one thing that pleasantly surprised me. So as for advice, I would tell students to balance spending time at the Center, and really take the time to connect with your Chinese roommate and Chinese students.

Interviewed by Emily Rivera, Certificate '18

Spring Break Research Trip: Hopkins-Nanjing Center Students Explore China’s Borders

Student blogger Alexandra Hansen (Certificate ’18 ) describes her experience on a course-related field research trip  to Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province during the spring semester. The trip was part of Professor Christofferson’s course China on the Border: Provincial Relations on the Periphery. It is an example of new teaching initiatives being promoted by the Hopkins-Nanjing Center administration that are jointly funded by generous donations from both American and Chinese supporters of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.

Over spring break, students in Professor Christofferson’s course China on the Border: Provincial Relations on the Periphery were given the opportunity to conduct field research on Sino-Myanmar and Sino-North Korea relations. This course is popular among students at the Center and is attended by Chinese and international students interested in learning more about China’s provincial foreign relations. This research trip was funded by the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and allowed students to investigate cross-border issues and paradiplomacy on China’s periphery.

This year marked the second time the trip has been offered to students. The field research trips were created as part of an initiative to develop innovative teaching and learning opportunities at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. Having taken part in the experience, this trip was valuable because it brought Chinese and international students together to explore relevant course topics. In this way, this trip embodies the goals of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center to develop cross-cultural understanding and cultivate knowledge about Sino-global relations.

This year the class was divided into three groups of students. One group traveled to both Jilin and Liaoning provinces in Northeastern China, while the other two groups journeyed to Yunnan Province in Southern China.

Students pose in Dandong, China, in front of the Sino-North Korea Friendship Bridge

Each group focused on issues that affected the areas they were visiting. The group that visited Jilin Province and Liaoning Province researched China-North Korea cross-border trade, Chaoxianzu (China’s ethnic Korean minority group) culture, and tourism along the border.

The two groups that ventured to Yunnan also had different research topics. The group visiting Kunming, Ruili, and Tengchong investigated Myanmar refugees in China, the Belt and Road Initiative, tourism, and cross-border trade. Meanwhile, the remaining group spent time in Jinghong and Daluo, Xishuangbanna Autonomous Prefecture, to study the region’s HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, cross-border security, and Daizu culture and tradition.

The Ruili Field Research Group (Yunnan, China) speaking with cross-border traders

Although I (regrettably) did not enroll in the course at the beginning of the semester, I was invited by the class to join the field-research trip and contribute my own perspectives and skills so that there was equal representation of both Chinese and international students in the groups. I am very appreciative of the opportunity I was given and for my time spent in Xishaungbanna Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. Through this trip I met incredible people, visited a number of influential organizations, and learned more about the current issues facing Xishuangbanna’s population on the China-Myanmar border.

During the field research trip, our team was fortunate enough to schedule interviews with a number of different departments and NGOs. In Kunming we were part of a discussion panel with Yunnan University’s Myanmar Studies Institute and the School of International Studies. In the city, we also met with representatives from Save the Children, a NGO that works to promote children’s rights in Yunnan and around the world. These sessions contributed to our understanding of cross-border relations, the nature of NGO development in Yunnan, and human rights issues.

After several days in Kunming, our team of four took a plane to Jinghong, Xushuangbanna. Xishuangbanna is famous for its history, rich cultural heritage, tropical climate, and wildlife. Our first stop in Jinghong was the Xishuangbanna Women and Children’s Psychology and Law Center. Here, we learned more about the Dai ethnic community in Xishuangbanna and the nature of the organization’s service to the region. Then we visited the Buddhist organization 佛家之光, which uses Buddhist concepts to provide locals with sex education and education about HIV/AIDS.

While Kunming and Jinghong were beautiful and interesting places, Daluo was my favorite place we visited on the trip. While in Daluo we stayed in Mengla, a small village only a few hundred meters away from Myanmar. We spent most our time in Mengla with a family of highly engaged peer-mentors. The family provided us with a lot of information on cross-border security, drug use issues, and Dai culture along the border. They assisted us in setting up an interview with a CCP leader who discussed border security issues and a Buddhist leader who discussed the history of Buddhism and the importance it has to Dai people. This family was incredibly hospitable and kind, went above and beyond to facilitate our research, and made sure that we felt welcome. I cannot thank them enough, and I hope that I have the opportunity to meet with them again.

At the Buddhist complex in Daluo with religious leader Mahājiao.

Overall, these course-related field-research trips allowed students to apply what they learned in the classroom to actual real-life scenarios. These trips gave students a firsthand account of what relations are like along borders. They gave students a glimpse into the issues that local populations face and insight into the nature of their day-to-day lives. I found my trip to be a fascinating experience and recommend it to all incoming students!

Xishaungbanna Research Group in front of the Daluo Border Crossing

Written by Alexandra Hansen, Certificate '18

Meet the Hopkins-Nanjing Center’s 2018-2019 U.S.-China Exchange Scholars

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center offers the U.S.-China Exchange Scholarship to alumni of U.S. government-supported programs for Chinese language study. These programs include, but are not limited to, the Critical Language Scholarship, Boren Award for International Study, Chinese Language Flagship Program, and the National Security Language Initiative for Youth. Meet the second group of U.S.-China Exchange Scholars below.


Eric Lacour
Chinese Language Flagship Program, Indiana University Bloomington
Foreign Language Area Studies Scholarship (FLAS)
Master of Arts in International Studies ’20

Eric Lacour began his Chinese studies during his sophomore year at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB). As a double bass student of Professor Lawrence Hurst in the prestigious Jacobs School of Music, Eric initially enrolled in Chinese courses out of pure interest in the language and culture of China. What was at first a fascination quickly became a passion when he was asked to join IUB’s Chinese Flagship Program. After one domestic summer of Chinese immersion study at the Flagship Chinese Institute (FCI) and one summer at Princeton in Beijing with FLAS funding, Eric was accepted to participate in the Flagship capstone year abroad program in Nanjing after completing his music studies.

While studying at the Flagship Nanjing University Center, Eric was able to combine his professional music training with his passion for China through participating in performances and teaching members of the Nanjing University Symphony Orchestra. During the internship phase of the Flagship capstone year abroad, Eric was able to earn a full-time position in the Jiangsu Symphony Orchestra as a double bassist. After one year of performing in cities all over China from Shanghai to Xining, he was promoted to principal double bass and chosen as an inductee into the Jiangsu Central Committee’s 100 Young Talented Artist program. As principal bass, Eric has participated in performances representing Jiangsu province in the greater China area, Europe, and Japan, including symphonic concerts, operas, Chinese folk collaborations, and musicals. As of February 2017, he has also served as visiting associate professor of double bass at the Nanjing University of the Arts.

Having witnessed the interaction of Chinese government policy on the arts and culture production first-hand, Eric will use his time at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center to further understand Chinese politics and explore ways of better developing the arts within the context of the Chinese political system.

Amy Bodner
Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program
Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program
Master of Arts in International Studies ’20

Amy Bodner first learned of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center when she visited Nanjing as a study abroad student and met a group of students by chance at a restaurant. One conversation about the “China Dream” later, Amy knew the Hopkins-Nanjing Center was an institution that aligned with her career goals. An aspiring Foreign Service Officer, Amy chose the Hopkins-Nanjing Center to study the Chinese perspective on Sino-American relations and to push her Chinese language ability from colloquial to professional. She is grateful to further explore Chinese policy, language, and culture as a U.S.-China Exchange scholar pursuing a Master of Arts in International Studies.  
Amy hails from Reno, Nevada, and studied Chinese and Economics at the University of Puget Sound. Her adventure into Chinese language study began as a college sophomore when she labored over traditional characters in an intensive language program at Tunghai University in Taiwan. She continued on to study Chinese history in the home of the terracotta warriors, Xi’an, China, and later to study finance in China’s economic epicenter, Shanghai. While in Shanghai, Amy interned at the cloud computing company ChinaSoft International, where she struggled to understand corporate vocabulary, but learned that in China it is acceptable to nap on your desk after lunch.

Upon graduation, Amy furthered her Mandarin study by participating in the U.S. State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship in Dalian, China. Here she learned a bit about Chinese opinion on modernization and the secret to cooking flavorful tofu over chats with her host mom. During the following academic year, she taught English at the historic Hwa Nan Women’s College in Fuzhou as University of Puget Sound’s cultural ambassador. Currently, Amy is on a Fulbright grant in Taitung, Taiwan. She teaches English and International Studies at an aboriginal school with just 17 students where she has learned about Taiwan’s traditional aboriginal culture through experiences like singing Amis language folksongs and spear-hunting fish in the Pacific Ocean. Given its legacy, Amy believes the Hopkins-Nanjing Center will give her the educational experience necessary to apply her amalgam of experiences in China and Taiwan towards her future career.

Dominic Villet
Peace Corps
Master of Arts in International Studies ’19

Perspectives matter. Dominic’s time living, studying and working in developing countries taught him the importance of understanding other peoples’ perspectives. Having spent 15 years in developing countries, including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and China, Dominic has had much experience working to connect and build relationships with people from cultural backgrounds different from his own. Understanding local and individual perspectives on a range of issues, and being able to communicate on his own in culturally appropriate ways, was necessary to build mutual trust and respect with friends and colleagues from diverse communities abroad. This goal for “building bridges” is what led Dominic to join the Peace Corps and later apply to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.

As a university English teacher for two years in a region of China fairly different from Shanghai or Beijing, Dominic’s time in the Peace Corps offered the opportunity to connect with members of the community to learn about China from their perspective, and to offer his perspective on his own community in the U.S. Given differences in culture and values, this process was not always easy, though it did bring to light one aspect critical to cultural exchange, namely, language ability. Being able to have conversations in Chinese and read Chinese texts and news media was necessary to more deeply understand local perspectives and build relationships of mutual trust and respect. Dominic applied to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center because of its focus on target-language courses, rigorous academic standards, and a diverse student body and faculty.

Master's Thesis Writing Process

As a student in the Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS) program, Amanda Bogan, provides an overview of the final thesis requirement—from selecting a topic and an advisor to navigating the thesis defense. 

The thesis defense is the final stage of the Master's thesis writing process, in which students present their papers and research findings to a panel of three professors with backgrounds in the same area of concentration (e.g. international economics, energy, resources and the environment, international politics, international and comparative law, or Chinese Studies). During the defense, professors will raise questions ranging from the implications of a thesis’s research findings to how the thesis is concluded, or offer up suggestions for how the thesis can be improved upon. But before students reach this final stage of the MA thesis process, there’s a great deal of research, revision, and discussions with thesis advisors before the final draft of a 15,000 character minimum thesis is ready to be submitted to the defense panel. In this post, I’ll be going through the major steps in the thesis writing process for MAIS students.

Step #1: Selecting a topic and finding an advisor
It is highly recommended that MAIS students spend time during their first semester seriously considering what they want to research for their thesis topic. During the beginning of the second semester, students are expected to choose a topic and a thesis advisor, and will meet with their advisor at least three times to discuss their preliminary research on the topic.

Step #2: Research and field work
Some MAIS students will use the time during their summer or winter holidays to engage in field research, such as conducting interviews or survey work. Even if you are not doing field research, holidays are still a great time to make progress on your thesis research or identify and refine your topic. For example, I’m writing my thesis on geoeconomic competition between China and India, which is a topic I first became interested in over the summer as a research intern at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Selecting a thesis topic which is related to a professional or personal interest is a good approach for two reasons: 1. Choosing a topic that you find interesting and meaningful will help with staying motivated throughout the long writing process, and 2. Having extensive research experience in an area where you are interested in pursuing a career helps build relevant skills and background knowledge (and might help in an interview).

Step #3: Proposal writing and presenting your topic
After compiling an ample amount of research, and having identified a particular question that your thesis will attempt to answer, it’s time to start the initial writing stage. Early on in the third semester, MAIS students will first submit a 开题报告 (thesis prospectus) outlining the basic premise and structure of their thesis, and an annotated bibliography of the research sources they have used so far. The prospectus will include the guiding question for research, methodology for approaching the question, and a summary of the existing literature surrounding the topic. After handing in the proposal, detailed feedback is provided on changes that should be made or areas to pursue further. A few weeks after submitting the prospectus, students will present their thesis topics and current research findings to classmates and professors in their target language. These presentations are a great chance to facilitate a discussion with classmates about problems you might be running into, or areas of uncertainty, while also learning about the research other classmates have been conducting.

Step #4: Writing and revision
After the thesis prospectus is approved and you’ve received feedback on your topic, the next step is to start the first draft chapter of your thesis—this will usually take the form of a 导论, or introduction chapter. Students are given a deadline to submit this first chapter, which is typically at the end of the third semester for MAIS candidates. As this is the first piece of writing that will be included as a part of the final thesis, students are given detailed feedback on their first draft chapter. In addition to submitting the draft, I also recommend actively seeking out feedback from your advisor and other professors, particularly if you have specific questions about how you should direct or focus your thesis. Most professors will be happy to arrange a time to discuss your topic, and it can help to get multiple perspectives on your research.

Jorge Cortez Martinez, MAIS ’18, pictured after successfully defending his thesis

Step #5: The defense!
Compared to the rest of the thesis writing process, the defense is a relatively brief final step. Defenses will usually last from 30 minutes to an hour. Students prepare an opening statement to read at the beginning of their defense, thanking those who helped them, explaining their interest in the topic, and outlining important findings. As a student who began in the Certificate program and applied to stay on in the MAIS program, I will be defending my thesis this coming December, so I still have some time to go before I get there. Having the chance to watch several of my classmates successfully defend their thesis this past week has helped me to know what I can expect, while also calming some of my nerves about my own defense. Attending a thesis defense, or just talking with more experienced students about their thesis, can help to get a better idea of how to start your own writing process.

Congratulations to all this year’s MAIS graduates! students who successfully defended!

Written by Amanda Bogan, MAIS ’18