Hopkins-Nanjing Center Blog

Have you ever wondered about the process that Hopkins-Nanjing Center MAIS students go through when completing their graduate thesis? Final-year student Grace Faerber gives us the rundown.  One of the main factors that distinguishes the Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS) program at the HNC from the Certificate program is the thesis component. MAIS students prepare for writing their thesis during their first academic year by taking a thesis preparation course each semester; then, they spend their second year writing an academic thesis in their target language of study, in a subject related to their MAIS concentration and under the guidance of an HNC professor.    As a third-semester MAIS student, I am deep into my thesis experience at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, and am seeing a tiny light at the end of the tunnel that I will reach in May of 2022, when I submit and defend my thesis before graduating. For my thesis topic, I am researching the recent rise in Chines...

Student blogger Hope Parker reflects on the required First-Year Interdisciplinary MA Tutorial Course.  Every first-year Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS) student at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center is required to take the interdisciplinary MA Tutorial Course during their first year. Before starting the course, I assumed it would be a research methods class in preparation for writing our theses. As it turns out, although master’s students do take a separate class that includes research methods later on in their studies, the tutorial is meant to help students start thinking about a variety of questions that we may encounter while researching and writing our theses. Given that every master’s student is required to take the course, there are Chinese and international students in each section, and the course is co-taught by an American and a Chinese faculty member. The professors take turns leading the course in English and Chinese, based on English and Chinese readings. Chines...

At the end of the 2016-2017 Academic year nearly 40 Hopkins-Nanjing Center MAIS students defended their theses. The wide variety of compelling topics speaks to the intellectual curiosity and wide-ranging academic interests of the HNC’s unique Chinese and international student body. While at the HNC, MAIS students choose a concentration area from among the six different areas of study offered: International Politics; International Economics; International and Comparative Law; Energy, Resources and Environment; Chinese Studies; and American Studies. During their two years of study, international and Chinese MAIS students are required to research, write, and orally defend a thesis in their “target language.” Chinese students complete their thesis in English and international students complete their thesis in Chinese. To help prepare for thesis research and writing, MAIS students have thesis advisers in their target language and participate in thesis prep courses that focus on research app...