Hopkins-Nanjing Center Blog

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center is excited to announce the launch of a new English-language pathway, beginning in September 2026. This pathway will allow students admitted to the SAIS MAIR (Washington, D.C.) or MAIA (Bologna) programs to spend their first year at HNC, taking courses in English that count directly toward their degree. Students will also have the option to pursue Chinese language study while in Nanjing. This new pathway complements our long-standing certificate and master’s programs taught in Chinese, which remain a core part of HNC’s offerings.  Master of Arts in International Relations (MAIR) The Master of Arts in International Relations program begins at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, where students take courses in English that integrate China-focused study into the larger field of international relations. This first year builds a strong grounding in China’s role in global affairs while introducing regional dynamics across Asia. In the second year at SAIS DC, students exp...

Frank Tsai is a 2003 graduate of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and currently serves as the CEO and Founder of China Crossroads, the largest platform for public lectures in Shanghai. Over the past 14 years, he has organized over 600 talks on "China and the world" across several event brands, hosting academics, business leaders, and other experts.   What led you to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center? What made you choose the HNC?   I traveled to Taiwan a few years before applying to the HNC, and I was excited to speak Mandarin for the first time. That experience sparked my interest, and after that trip, my life became focused on studying Chinese. It made me shift gears in my PhD. At the time, I was doing my PhD in sociology when I first heard about the HNC. I wanted to transition to studying China, but I had no experience. For that reason, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center was a great way for me to experience China. Language programs were my other option , but the HNC was very attractive be...

From April 17-20, three Hopkins-Nanjing Center students stepped away from their academic routines to travel to Hainan for this year's Yenching Global Symposium, themed “Fortitude: Navigating the Tides of Change”. John Steinmetz HNC MAIS '26, Liu Yinuo HNC MAIS '25, and Eddie Witte HNC Certificate + SAIS MAIR '26 were selected from a pool of over 6,000 applicants to be three of the 90 delegates chosen to partake in the event. Launched by students at Yenching Academy of Peking University, the Yenching Global Symposium is a chance for various scholars and professionals to engage in dialogue surrounding current global and national challenges through academic panels and experiential activities. This post highlights John, Yinuo and Eddie’s experiences with the application process, their perspectives on the event, and their recommendations for future HNC students interested in applying. Yinuo, John, and Eddie posing at the symposium (respectively) The Application Process The a...