Nick Kaufman, Certificate '21, had an opportunity to speak with Professor Hua Tao, who teaches Ethnic Minorities in Chinese Society (少数民族与中国社会 ) and Social Issues of China’s Modernization (中国现代化中的社会问题) at the HNC.
This year, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center celebrates its 35th anniversary as a center for study, research, and cultural exchange. The HNC hosts a large array of international and Chinese faculty, with many professors leaving long-lasting influence on their students.
One professor who has left his mark on generations of HNC students—both in the classroom and in the broader HNC community—is Professor Hua Tao.
Professor Hua first arrived at the HNC in 1994. Having previously researched Turkic ethnic groups on the medieval Mongolian steppe at Nanjing University, the first class he taught at the HNC examined Chinese ethnic minorities. 27 years later, he is still teaching a version of that class today: Ethnic Minorities in Chinese Society.
Professor Hua believes that the language ability of current HNC students far exceeds that of those he first encountered in the early 90’s. “The international students’ target language ability is getting better and better,” he said.
“When I first began, many students were coming to the HNC as their first encounter in their target language,” he said, referencing how many international students, for example, were in the early stages of Chinese language learning when beginning at the HNC. He finds that now, with the expansion of internet learning and Chinese policy opening to increase study abroad opportunities, students generally have more in-country experience in China before coming to the HNC.
Professor Hua believes that the HNC serves the students by not only promoting the study of their target language but also by “encouraging them to know more about their target country, target cultures, and the target institutions” through course content. Studying at the HNC allows them to “know more about China, with a strong understanding in language as well as in Chinese culture.”
As a result, students are able to attain a graduate-level understanding of Chinese society, while expanding on their language ability. “That is the uniqueness of the HNC,” Professor Hua said.
Professor Hua has also enjoyed meeting with students outside of the classroom. “There are lots of chances for us to get to know each other,” he said. He’s been able to expose many students and international faculty to traditional Chinese activities, such as ping pong, and has joined in cheering on students participating in traditional dragon boat races. He has also come to enjoy certain aspects of American culture by attending student-faculty HNC events, like the yearly Halloween party.
From his time at the HNC, Professor Hua has found that students are able to learn and interact with Chinese students and Chinese society in distinct and interesting ways. He believes that the unique experiences of both Chinese and international students at the HNC will bode well as they position themselves for future careers.
Furthermore, Professor Hua believes that as China’s relations with countries like the U.S. enter a “new period,” which poses “lots of challenges on many levels,” that the work of the HNC will be as important as ever.
In this new environment, he believes that international and Chinese students risk “forgetting each other: each other’s people and each other’s culture.”
However, Professor Hua feels that the HNC plays an important role in creating opportunities for exchange among students from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. The HNC has hosted students not only from the U.S. and China, but from countries all over the world. In such an environment, “we must have more understanding about the future,” he said.
“The tradition of the HNC is to encourage students to understand each other. So I think that the HNC will play a very important role in this time.”
Written by Nick Kaufman, Certificate '21.
