Hopkins-Nanjing Center Blog

During the first week of class in the spring 2024 semester, Hopkins-Nanjing Center students gathered to elect their student representatives, a group of four students known as the Banwei (班委) who serve for one-semester terms. Cheng Rui, Yan Yixin, Sophie Kelley, and Nathaniel Fousek were selected to drive this new blossoming semester. Meet the Spring 2024 Banwei (left to right) Nathaniel, Yixin, Sophie, and Rui 成瑞 Cheng Rui (MAIS 2024) From Nantong, Jiangsu, Rui majored in international economics and trade at Nanjing University and is concentrating on energy, recourses, and environment at the HNC. Rui is the Nanjing Bureau Chief for the SAIS Observer and was a 2022-2023 Nanjing Scholar at SAIS DC.  严翌昕 Yan Yixin (MAIS 2025) Born and raised in Xiamen, Fujian, Yixin studied Korean at Nanjing University and studied abroad at Korea University. At the HNC, she is concentrating on international politics. Nathaniel Fousek (MAIS 2024) From Austin, Texas, Nathaniel graduated from the Univers...

At the HNC, China becomes an extended classroom, seamlessly integrating academic insights with real-world experiences. In our latest blog, Ellie Randolph, MAIS '24, shares her academic journey as a foreigner in Nanjing and her travels across China. Ellie Randolph “Hello Foreigner! Are you Russian? 老外！你是俄罗斯人吗？”  The question asked by the cashier, high school student, or the old man yelling through his cigarette from across the street.  “不是，我是美国人。” No, I’m an American. This answer never upsets anyone, they just assumed otherwise. It is not hard to understand why. According to the New York Times, there are only 350 American students currently in China, and a significant portion of those are here at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. Even the advisability of  business travel between the US and China is being questioned. Russians in China are a more common sight, especially in the south (Guangdong is Siberia’s Miami).  When speaking with the international students at Nanjing U...