Hopkins-Nanjing Center Blog

Recent alumna Cady Deck, HNC Certificate '19 + SAIS MA '20, shares how her Chinese language and analytical skills developed at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC) and Johns Hopkins SAIS support her work as an analyst at the Center for Advanced China Research. Tell us about your career and your current role.   I'm currently working as an analyst at the Center for Advanced China Research (CACR). I actually met my boss in undergrad when I talked to him after a panel. I guess it's true that networking can be a very important part of the job search, even if one might not realize it at the time. In my current role, I focus on analyzing Chinese-language sources and media. Recently, I've been working a lot on Hong Kong and Taiwan, two portfolios that have been very active in the past year.  How often do you use Chinese in your current position or other skills you gained while studying at the HNC?  I'm happy to say that I use Chinese every single day at work because languag...

Christian Burstall, HNC Certificate '17 + SAIS MA '18, links his success serving as a Foreign Service Officer in Chengdu to his Hopkins-Nanjing Center experience. Tell us a bit more about your career and your current role.   I'm a Foreign Service Officer, or diplomat. Exactly what that means is elusive, but a large part of my job is explaining the United States to the rest of the world and explaining the rest of the world to the United States. My most recent assignment was providing consular service in Chengdu. The majority of my time was spent interviewing visa customers. When the novel coronavirus pandemic broke out, I provided emergency services, including working with the Embassy to coordinate emergency flights for U.S. citizens stuck in Wuhan.  What got you interested in studying Chinese and what drew you to the HNC?  I studied French my first year of college and the professor made some offhand remark that competent French required about 600 hours of study, whil...

Engaging with media and entertainment in Mandarin is a fun and unique way to retain and strengthen your Chinese language skills. Student blogger Brandy Darling (HNC Cert ‘20 + SAIS MA ’21) connected with current student Hannah Sorenson (HNC MAIS ‘22) and HNC alumna Celine Yeap Shu Wan (HNC Certificate ‘20) to collect a sample of Chinese TV show recommendations to get you started. 幸福触手可及   (Love Designer / Love Advanced Customization) Recommender: Celine Yeap Shu Wan '20 Genre: Business, Romance  Where to Watch: YouTube Summary: The story of an aspiring fashion designer and an e-commerce start-up founder who were a mismatch from the start. Due to  incidences that end up making their lives and work heavily interdependent,  they are forced to cooperate. Conflicts are bound to happen with these two hard-headed individuals, but they slowly find themselves growing in each other’s strength.   What words/expressions have you learned from this show?   E-Commerc...

Hannah Sorenson (MAIS '22) checked in with representatives of the HNC student committee, also known as the "banwei"  (班委), to learn how they are working across international locations to bring the HNC community together. Among the many questions faced by Hopkins-Nanjing Center students and staff in the wake of COVID-19, a group of students finds themselves tasked with the following: how do we build community amongst a multicultural, transnational cohort of strangers without meeting in person? These four students, known formally as the banwei (班委), were chosen by their peers during a series of orientation events held through Zoom in early September. This year’s banwei represent different degree programs and experiences — even finding themselves spread around the world between Yangon, Nanjing, and Bologna — tasked with bridging the distance between their classmates in a number of other geographic locations and time zones.   Amanda Bogan,  HNC American Program Coordinat...