Hopkins-Nanjing Center Blog

The HNC Admissions team is pleased to welcome our newest staff member, Gretta Herrin.   Gretta will be visiting schools this fall and supporting students throughout the application process and as enrolled students.  Gretta graduated from Lewis and Clark College with a major in East Asian Studies with a focus on modern Chinese art. Gretta first found her interest in Asian studies while studying abroad in Cambodia after her freshman year. She then spent a year abroad studying with CET in Beijing and Shanghai in 2008-2009. After graduating in 2010, Gretta returned to China and spent three years supporting international students and faculty at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. At PKU Shenzhen, Gretta most enjoyed working with a diverse community of international students from over 40 different countries.   One of her goals was to facilitate building a strong multicultural community of international and Chinese students. “My best experiences in Chin...

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center notes with regret the passing of Wan Li ( 万里 ), former chairman of the National People's Congress, pioneering reformer in China’s top leadership, and a friend and supporter   of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center from its earliest days.   Wan Li passed away on July 15 at the age of 98 in Beijing.   Wan Li is well known for the agricultural reform policies he implemented in the 1970s, when he was party chief for the eastern province of Anhui. These reforms helped to launch the household-responsibility system that would gradually replace the commune system.  Wan Li in 1981 Less well known is the role Wan Li played in the establishment of Hopkins-Nanjing Center. In 1979, on a visit to the United States, Wan had met with Johns Hopkins University Professor Professor Chih-Yung Chien ( 钱致榕 ). Professor Chien was at that time working closely with then-Hopkins President Steven Muller to help realize their vision of creating a joint Sino-Am...

Madelyn in China in 1979 Madelyn Ross, Director of the HNC Washington Office, first studied in China in 1979. Below she reflects on her experiences and provides advice to incoming HNC students: As the new director of the Washington DC office of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, I’ve been busy learning about the HNC and talking to students and alumni about their experiences in Nanjing. Recently I spoke to a group of American college students about my own experience living in China shortly after the US and China normalized relations. I thought I would share a bit of that here, as many of you get ready to begin your own China journey at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center this fall. I arrived in Shanghai in August 1979, having arranged (with the help of college professors, persistence, and, finally, approval from the Ministry of Education) to teach English and take courses in Chinese literature at Fudan University following graduation. As the curtain around China began to lift, my main motiva...

The HNC Washington Office wishes Katie Brooks well on her last day in the office. Please see a message from Katie below: Katie with current and former HNC Washington Office colleagues After over five years of working for the Hopkins-Nanjing Center Washington Office at Johns Hopkins SAIS, I am leaving to pursue a new position at Columbia University in New York City. As an alum of the HNC certificate program, it has been my privilege to be a part of the unique joint venture that is the HNC. The applicants, students, alumni, faculty, and staff I have worked with these last five years have provided a constant reminder of what a truly special place the HNC is. From reviewing the impressive applications of our students to traveling to China for the Joint Academic Committee, I’ve enjoyed supporting the HNC in every way I can. I once heard a HNC Certificate/SAIS MA alumna remark, “SAIS is my community, but HNC is my family.” I will miss SAIS after I leave this job, but I know that ...

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center recognizes the role the Nanjing community plays in the education of our students. In an effort to give back, many students volunteer in the local community. Every Saturday, a group of HNC volunteers spend two hours teaching English classes and organizing activities as part of the Migrant School Learning Initiative (MSLI). The Bainian Vocational School provides training for high school age students from rural parts of China in three majors: cookery, electrical maintenance, and hotel service. After one year, these students are placed in local five star hotels where they can use the skills they've learned. English language skills are very important when working in these hotels, so HNC volunteers are able to make a real difference, while also having fun. Professor Paul Armstrong-Taylor, co-founder of the MSLI, provided the following photos from the last day of classes and activities at the Bainian Vocational School this past academic year: ...

Emily and a fellow classmate HNC MAIS students have the summer between the first and second year of the program to do thesis research, find an internship, or travel. We checked in with Emily Shea at the end of her first year at the HNC to see how she would be spending her summer: What are you doing this summer? Emily: I have an internship with a US wine company that’s importing wine to China, so I’m studying to get a certification, the Certified Specialist of Wine. Just a few months ago I went with them and was their interpreter for their meetings with a couple Chinese companies. How will this connect with your thesis topic? Emily: I’m hoping to do my thesis on the international wine market for the international economics concentration, and focus on China because China is a super interesting undeveloped market but with all these complications. To learn more about Emily and her experiences at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, watch this short video :