Hopkins-Nanjing Center Blog

Despite ongoing restrictions which make it difficult for scholars to visit and research China within its own territory, Rebecca Ash-Cervantes argues that China has already made itself accessible to scholars all over the world through its interactions with others.  China’s rise came with both economic improvements, as well as greater renown on the world stage. Not only for the  nation itself, but also for the  Chinese people for whom there are many centuries old diaspora in most nations around the world. We saw the expansion of Chinese embassies and consuls, the proliferation of the sometimes-controversial Confucius Institutes, multinational Chinese firms and the like signaling this new age for China. Pre-pandemic China scholars found themselves spending copious amounts of time in China, studying these changes and trying to better understand China through their various angles of study. However, with border restrictions, visa limitations, and exorbitant flight and quarantin...

Every program at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center has its own special requirements, characteristics, and schedules. Certificate + MAIR student Eljoy Tanos gives us a rundown on a day in his life as a student at the HNC.  The HNC student body consists of a diverse pool of students with different academic backgrounds and expertise. In addition, students are attending the Hopkins-Nanjing Center under various programs. While many HNC students are a part of the two-year Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS) program, there are also those in the one-year certificate program. As a part of the Cert/MAIR program, I am attending the HNC as a certificate student for my first year before joining the DC program next fall. In this blog, I want to share how I created my Spring 2022 schedule for anyone who may be interested interested in joining Johns Hopkins SAIS in the future. At the beginning of each semester, HNC students attend a meeting where professors pitch the courses they are teaching ...

Alyssa Perez, Certificate '18, is currently an  Associate Director of the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C.  How did you become interested in China and what drew you to the HNC?  I started learning Chinese when I was in the sixth grade, just two years before the 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing. Not only were the 2008 Beijing Olympics a decidedly pivotal point in China’s place on the world stage, but it was also an important period in the evolving US-China relationship. All eyes were on China’s rise as a global competitor, including mine. This pushed me to pursue Chinese studies in high school and at DePaul University, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in International Studies before attending the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. As the world prepares for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, I am grateful for the opportunity to reflect on how much I have learned since I first started ...

So, you've started your Hopkins-Nanjing Center studies  and  the thought of choosing a concentration is making you feel a bit overwhelmed. You’re not alone – nearly every student has probably gone through the initial panic of “What is a concentration? What should I choose? What if I am interested in many different things?” Feeling a bit intimidated at first is natural, but this guide to the various concentrations will hopefully help you make the best decision possible for your academic and professional career.    Choosing classes for your first term at the HNC is certainly fun, but it can also be daunting. For many incoming students, the HNC curriculum offers more interesting courses than can possibly fit in even the most ambitious schedule. And, while the HNC encourages an interdisciplinary approach, including an expectation of taking some courses outside one's own concentration, MAIS students must choose a concentration by the end of their first semester. This can ...

On March 4th, Laure Pallez, an HNC ’11 alumna and an Economic Advisor at the French Embassy in the United States, led a lecture about France’s upcoming presidential election. Laure, who has written extensively before on the 2020 US Presidential Elections for her fellow French citizens, discussed the French community overseas, the institutional background of French elections, the political climate in France, and international implications of the campaign.  “Today (March 4th) is the deadline of the publication of the official list of candidates for the presidential election of France, so what a great timing to discuss this issue.”    Laure expressed her personal interest in the French community overseas, numbering about 3 million people (5% of France’s total population). “The French are very patriotic, often nostalgic of their motherland, and see France’s ranking and position in the world as a key issue for them. The French community overseas is traditionally two-thirds con...

Grace Faerber (MAIS '22) checked in with the newly-elected representatives of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center student committee, also known as the "banwei"  ( 班委 ) . These four students were chosen by their peers during an election at the start of the semester. The banwei is typically comprised of two students (one male and one female) representing the international student body, and two representing the Chinese student body.  The banwei is an HNC tradition, serving as a valuable liaison between students and the administration. In addition to helping facilitate communication, banwei also take a leadership role in planning and organizing social events, extracurricular activities, and student engagement at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. Let’s meet our new class of leaders:   Yang Jialin ( 杨佳霖) :  Candidate for  Master of  International Relations/International Politics  (MA’22) at the HNC. He received a BA in English at Beijing Foreign Studies University before a...

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...