What current project at the Center
for Advanced China Research are you most excited about and why?
Right
now I'm editing a compilation of essays about the Chinese Communist Party's first
centenary goals, a collection of targets for the economy, environment, etc.,
that must be met by 2021, the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the CCP.
The project has allowed me to seek out the expertise of very experienced China
scholars and basically have them answer questions that I can't answer
myself.
How did you become interested in
China and end up at the HNC?
I
never planned on becoming a China specialist but when you begin learning about
China, you quickly find that understanding the country and learning the
language are all-absorbing pursuits. I randomly signed up for a seminar on
Chinese politics my first semester of college and met other students who
encouraged me to take the introductory Chinese class. Having studied Spanish
since age 5, taking a language that was so different sounded like an
interesting challenge. I specifically remember my friend saying, "by the
end of the year, you'll be able to speak Chinese!" This turned out
to not be true at all but the prospect of being able to speak Chinese! kept
me invested.
I
went to China after graduating from college to teach English in Shenzhen for
what I thought would only be one year, but I found myself seeking more
immersive experiences. This led me to teach at a college in a small city in
northern Shaanxi Province (the only other Americans there were some potato
farmers brought in to improve local potato cultivation practices), and then to
the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. The same friend who had promised me I'd be speaking
Chinese after one year of study had attended the HNC the year before and
encouraged me to apply.
How did your experience at the
Hopkins-Nanjing Center prepare you for being a China Analyst?
The
HNC gave me the confidence to tackle Chinese-language resources in my research,
a must-have skill for any China analyst. I remember my first assignment at the HNC
was to read a chapter in our Chinese foreign policy textbook and give a
presentation about it. It was a complete disaster, but by the end of the year,
reading Chinese texts became much less daunting.
Beyond
that, taking classes alongside Chinese students in China was an invaluable
experience that could not be replicated in the United States. Even though there
are many international students in US classrooms, the opinions and perspectives
of American students naturally tend to dominate class discussions. At the HNC,
just the simple fact that Chinese students were more comfortable using Chinese
than American students meant they often set the tone for class discussion. I
still refer back to the things I learned from my Chinese classmates in Nanjing
all the time.
What was your most memorable
moment while you were in Nanjing?
This
might sound bad at first, but I remember feeling really humiliated after that
first presentation I gave in Chinese that was a total disaster. But other
students in the class were so nice about it and told me I did a good job, which
I really appreciated. The HNC turned out to be a very supportive and non-judgmental
environment for language learning. We ended up laughing a lot about any
difficulties we were having and encouraging each other to try again and
improve.
On
a personal note, I made some of my best friends at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center.
My best memories from the year are the things we did together, including a trip
to Xinjiang during a week-long break and eating at the same chicken noodle soup
restaurant multiple times a week. Four years later, two friends from the HNC
are my roommates in DC.
What advice would you give to
current or future HNC students?
First,
the sharper your language skills are, the better your experience will be. If
you're a little rusty, I recommend attending an intensive language program before
the HNC.
Second,
I recommend establishing a language schedule with your Chinese roommate and
sticking to it strictly. For example, my roommate and I would switch between
English and Chinese on a daily basis and only speak one of the languages each day.
Otherwise, we would fall back into me speaking English to her and her speaking
Chinese to me, which wasn't great practice for either of us.
Third,
make an effort to step away from your books and enjoy Nanjing. There are so
many things I didn't see because I was in the library too much! I highly
recommend buying a scooter to explore the city (but please wear a helmet).
There's a guy down the street that will sell you one and he’ll probably buy it
back at the end of the year.
Interview by
Cady Deck, Certificate ‘19 + Johns Hopkins SAIS MA ’20
