Brittany Wellner (卫婀娜) was a double major in Chinese and Studio art; she took language courses at the College as well as abroad in Xi’an, China; she became interested in Chinese cinema after taking Chinese 223; her I.S. project at Ebert was an exhibition of her own fashion designs for women, worn by students from China as models; after graduation from Wooster, she went to SOAS (School of Oriental and Africana Studies) in London for a Ph.D. degree in Chinese cinema and has been museum curator at Oxford, Cambridge.
Jessica Whale (温婕) of class 2011 was a double major in Chinese and German; after two years of language studies at Wooster, she did her junior I.S. on Chinese loan words and went abroad to both Germany and China (CET in Hangzhou, summer 2010) for advanced language training. The courses she took include 220 Being Young in China, 222, Women in Chinese Literature, and 223, Chinese Cinema. Her senior I.S. is an in-depth analysis of Chinese and German environmental discourses on pollution and recycling. She taught English in China after graduation and is currently applying for graduate programs in East Asia Studies in the States.
Charlie Davis (戴伟力) ’12, is a Chinese major and an amateur musician; he took Beginning Chinese on campus and Intermediate Chinese in the summer of 2010 with Wooster Summer in Yunnan language Program; he also took Chinese 220 (Being Young in China) and attended CET Beijing program in the fall of 2010 to achieve near-native proficiency in speaking, and spent 2011 summer living and researching in Beijing and Shanghai, sponsored by a generous grant from Lilly Project. His junior I.S. in which he translated and edited together video and audio clips of documentary clips and footage of the May Fourth movement prepared him for his senior I.S. that examines different Chinese rock-n-roll bands as an important part of the sub- or counter-culture in China. His translation of the song lyrics is excellent; now living in Nashville TN, Charlie is trying to record, publish and distribute the records of the songs his Chinese rock musician friends;
Hawwah LaRoche (罗海娃) ’12, is a double major in Chinese and Art History; she finished her first year Chinese at Wooster and second year intermediate Chinese while in China with the 2010 Wooster Summer in Yunnan Program, partially sponsored by a travel grant from the president discretionary funds; while in Yunnan, she was chosen to appear in the film entitled 假装情侣 The Pretending Lovers, 2011. She took China-related courses in History (with Dr, Gedalecia) and Religious Studies department (Mark Graham) to deepen her knowledge of Chinese culture; Hawwah’s senior I.S. project studies the gender transformation of the Bodhisattva Guanyin 观世音 after Buddhism entered China in the sixth century.
Adam Jankowski (詹克齐) ’13 is a double major in Chinese and International Relation. He took Beginning Chinese I and II at the college, and Intermediate Chinese I and II while with the 2010 Wooster Summer in Kunming language Program; he took advanced Chinese at Program in China Studies Institute (CSI) at Peking University. His junior IS, written in Chinese, discusses the key events in the history of Sino-U.S. relations. He was a part of 2011 summer English teaching program; the Copeland fund awarded to him in 2012 enabled him to return to Peking University again to conduct research in the Library for his senior I.S., a study of the roles the communist leaders have played to represent the Chinese through their foreign policies in the past half a century; his language training enabled him to analyze political speeches by China’s leaders for subtle changes towards liberalization and globalization; he is currently in George Washington University earning an advanced degree in Asian Studies.
Alexander Turner (艾绿绿), ’13, is a major in Chinese and avid reader of literature. He took Beginning Chinese at Wooster, Intermediate Chinese during 2010 Wooster Summer in Yunnan language program. He took Chinese 220 and 223 (Chinese Cinema), and worked as a teaching apprentice in the FYS “Chinese Box”; he went to China a third time with the summer of 2011 Wooster English teaching internship program, followed by one full year study of advanced Chinese at CIEE Program at Peking University, during which time he achieved near-native proficiency in spoken Chinese and befriended several underground literary writers; in his junior IS he introduces these friends by translating their poems and his senior I.S. further studies these literary youth (文艺青年) by incorporating his interviews with them conducted in Beijing, made possible by a grant from Copeland fund. His superb analysis of their creative writing would not have been possible without his outstanding language skills and his training in literature that cement his friendship with these amateur fiction writers. “ … All my friends are here. Not that my friends at Wooster no longer exist to me but I have found that I already inherently understand their culture, society, and thoughts because common factors have shaped us. The greatest commonality between myself and my Chinese friends here is our humanity. We do not share a language or culture or society and thus we become mutually fascinating.” Alex is currently a student of Chinese literature at graduate school of Chinese Studies of Peking Normal University, with much research on Chinese novelist Wang Xiaobo.
Caroline Hanson (韩凯琳) ’13, is a double major in Chinese and Anthropology, and a competitive swimmer. She took advanced Chinese at SIT Yunnan Program, which was her 2nd time in China. She was a part of the 2010 Wooster Summer in Yunnan language program after successfully finishing the first year Chinese; she was an intern of 2011 summer teaching English program in Beijing. During her study abroad in SIT in Yunnan, she became preoccupied with the conditions of women in Lugu Lake area, the Mosuo ethnic minority that became the subject of her junior I.S. Her language proficiency and familiarity with the Mosuo won her a grant of $2,600 from Copeland Funds which enabled her to conduct field research and interviews in Yunnan for her senior I.S. on the impact of tourism on the matriarchal life style of the Mosuo, especially their walking marriage. Her study not only allows her to understand the struggles of the Mosuo but also gives her a new identity as a member of this minority community trying to reinvent themselves through modernity. She is currently teaching in Beijing for VIA Programs: “Hello Professor Wang! I hope you are doing well in Wooster! I am absolutely loving Beijing! I love teaching here at the University!! But I have 500 students which is a ton!!! I also love the NGO work I am doing here. I am doing a lot of translating and am in charge of the webpage. I am also starting to speak with the Beijing hua and have been adopted by a couple families on campus who I tutor for. Also, when are you planning to be back in Beijing? I look forward to seeing you! I am definitely going to spend another year in China before I go to Grad school. I love it in Beijing, but I have a dilemma. The post that I originally wanted in Shangarila just opened up. Meaning next year I could live there and help teach local minorities how to work in the tourist industry. But I do love Beijing. This is an opportunity I would love to talk out with you.”
Xiaochen Zhang, (张笑尘) ’13, is a double major in Chinese and International Relation. Born in Nanjing, China and brought up in the States since he was three, Xiaochen is a heritage student who has quickly achieve proficiency in spoken and writing Chinese. He has been back to China numerous times, including the 2010 Wooster Summer in Yunnan Program, and the one-month long English teaching internship program in the summer of 2011 in Beijing and Zhengzhou. He took Chinese Cinema (223) and his junior IS (in Chinese) studies the ways the Chinese interact with the locals in Africa and how these interactions are shaped by different economic and political interests; his senior I.S. in Chinese and economics studies how Chinese investments affect African wages; equipped with his empirical data he offers a framework for understanding the pros and cons of China’s FDI (foreign direct investments) in Africa; After graduation, he was an intern at Museum of Art at City of Guangzhou, China and is currently working for Smucker’s.
Ashley Stopka, (许诗蕾) ’13, is a double major in Chinese and mathematics; she wrote her junior IS examining and critically comparing Chinese and U.S. math education, mainly textbooks, for elementary and middle schools; she finished her first year Beginning Chinese at Wooster and went with 2010 Wooster summer in Kunming Program to complete intermediate Chinese I and II, partially sponsored by a travel grant from the president discretionary funds; she took Chinese 220 after she returned and in 2011 she again went to China, Beijing and Zhengzhou, as a member of the four-week English teaching internship program; her writing skill is superb and has a good mastery of Chinese syntax;
Mark Federman (费德民) of ’13 is a double major of Chinese and History; he took advanced Chinese at IES Beijing Program, after completing two years of Chinese at the College, in addition to China-related courses in History (Gedalecia); Mark’s junior IS is translation of excerpts from Yan Geling’s novella entitled Flowers of War 《金陵十三钗》that has been adapted into a film, directed by Zhang Yimou; his senior IS studies the complex relations between the nationalist GMT government and the mobsters/gangsters in Shanghai during the 1920s; his language training enabled him to research Chinese newspaper and memoirs that are the foundations for new historical interpretations.
Kathleen Arnold (何爱玲) of ’14 is a Chinese major. She successfully finished her first and second year Chinese. During the summer of 2010, she went to the beautiful city of Guilin, China, and spent time there taking language class to perfect her language skills; Kathy took Chinese 223 and went to China again in the summer of 2012 to take advanced Chinese at China Studies Institute (CSI) at Peking University; for her junior IS, she examines the representations of lesbian life-style in four Chinese narrative films and discusses how these fictional accounts of lesbianism challenge and negotiate the Confucian and patrilineal tradition in contemporary China; her senior I.S. researches the advent of lesbianism in modern China in art, history, media and official discourses.
Adriana Hoak (郝楠) of ’14 is a Chinese major who has successfully completed her Beginning Chinese I and II, as well as Intermediate Chinese I and II at the college; Adriana is also a member of Wooster Swim Team; she took an eight-week total immersion program the summer of 2012 with China Studies Institute (CSI) at Peking University, immediately followed by one full semester advanced Chinese at CET Beijing Program in the fall; her junior I.S. chronicles the key events in history that affect the lives of the educated women in China trying to achieve womanhood under the influence of traditional etiquette and decorum, or even superstition; her senior I.S. titled “What Does Modernity Smell Like: An Analysis on Fragrance Advertising in Modern China,” traces the steps of perfume and fragrance advertisement in modern China.
Susie Ko (郭晓霞) of ’14 is a double major in International Relations and Chinese; clearly the top 5% of the class, she successfully finished her first and second year Chinese at the College, and took Chinese 220, Women in Chinese Literature; Susie plans to study abroad in CET Beijing program in 2013 and achieve proficiency required to undertake research in the language; a good writer in Chinese, Susie writes her junior IS on the works of modern Chinese artist Gu Wenda; her senior I.S. studies the role of censorship in cyberspace as a means of social control in China as a non-democratic nation.
Jack Vandusen (吴大江) of ’14 is a Chinese major, very interested in political issues concerning mainland China such as democracy movement since 1989 and human rights situations; he took Beginning and Intermediate Chinese on campus, as well as Chinese 223 Cinema class, and a number of courses in Chinese history; Jack spent the summer of 2012 with China Studies Institute (CSI) at Peking University for high intermediate Chinese; his junior I.S. examines five Chinese films, made in 1970s through 2010s, for the changes in how the Chinese (directors) reshape the collective memories of Japanese atrocities against the Chinese during WWII; his senior I.S. examines the formation and development of Chinese national identity in Chinese cinema.
Jarid Heffers (何志儒) of ’14 is a major in Chinese and a member of the college football team; he took Beginning and Intermediate Chinese in the past two years, in addition to Chinese 223 and 220, and other China-related courses in history; he spent the summer of 2012 with China Study Institute (CSI) at Peking University for eight weeks for high intermediate Chinese; his junior IS project discusses the myth of communism as presented in films of red classics; he spent one full semester in spring of 2013 at CSI to take place along the path of the Long March by the Red Army; his senior I.S. examines how Chinese communism is elaborated and represented in films as well as interviews with people in China for their opinions of these dramatic representations of Chinese revolution; thanks to Copeland funds, Jarid was able to travel to China during the winter break of 2013 and interviewed various locals for their views on Chinese Communist Revolution and its fictional representations in film.
Salma Ait Hssayene (艾珊明) of ’15 is a double major in Chinese and Business Economics. An international student from Rabat, Morocco, she has successfully finished Beginning and Intermediate Chinese I and II; prior to coming to Wooster, she worked as an intern for a Chinese organization in Johannesburg South Africa; fluent in Arabic, French and English, she is planning to study abroad in CIEE Shanghai program during junior fall, as she hopes to work and live in China in the near future, driven by a passion for traveling and meeting people of diverse cultural backgrounds; her senior I.S. studies the inherent inequality that peasant workers 民工 pass onto their kids when they move into the cities but are not given full urban status.
Nolan Kokkoris (郭瑞男) of ‘15 is from Central Square, New York. In addition to being a Chinese major, he is also a member of the Scot Band and is an avid marching band lover. Nolan just finished Beginning and Intermediate Chinese I and II, where he achieved good pronunciation. Coming out of “Chinese Box” FYS, he continued to take Chinese 220 and 223 to expand his cultural and intellectual horizon; and he hopes to spend one full year at AAC program in Beijing in his junior year; his goals are to be fluent in Chinese by the time he graduates and to work for the federal government as a Chinese specialist; his senior I.S. focuses on the formation of Chinese cultural identity as developed among the various pockets of Chinese diaspora community abroad.
Stephanie Novak (倪琴芳) of 15′ started taking Chinese in her freshmen year; successful in Beginning Chinese I and II (101 and 102); driven by a strong passion for Chinese culture, she continued to excel in Intermediate Chinese I and II (201 and 202) while taking Chinese 222 (Women in Chinese Literature) and 223 (Chinese cinema); Stephanie made good progress in her reading skill and became proficient, able to understand written and spoken Chinese at near-native level; her reading and writing skills in English are equally impressive, able to analyze and interpret literary works with nuance and subtlety; she is planning to study abroad soon to achieve greater proficiency; her junior I.S. focuses on how the Chinese view success in America by examining several films on Chinese coming to America to realize their “American dreams”; her senior I.S. looks at the history of English language education in China, through events such as Western missionary work, early state-sponsored education abroad, all the way to the present in which English language instruction is institutionalized in elementary school education and college entrance exam.
David Morrow (莫达) of 16′ started taking as a freshman, with a strong interests in Chinese language and culture; his choice of Chinese as major is very consistent with his class performance, quizzes and homework in Beginning Chinese I and II; a people person who enjoys social interactions, David plans to major in education as well, hoping to be a teacher after graduation; he was in Beijing with China Studies Institute (CSI) at Peking University for one semester intensive language training; his I.S. project discusses the various ideas of liberal arts education in the comparative contexts of Western philosophy, Chinese history (with regard to the Civil Service Exam system), and educational reforms in modern China.
Kelly Brethauer (乐琴灵) of 16′ is a double major in Chinese and economics; with her successful completion of Beginning and Intermediate Chinese I and II in her first year at the College; she had been in China briefly for two weeks when she and her American friends went to a local school to provide study aids to Chinese kids; she was in Beijing again in 2014, taking one semester of intensive language training at China Studies Institute (CSI); since her return, she took Chinese 223 cinema class and Chinese history class; her I.S. examines the changes in Chinese attitude towards nature in the course of Chinese history from antiquity to the present crisis of environmental degradation, and it analyzes such classics as The Book of Changes as well as the revolutionary rhetorics of Mao to see how Chinese change their self-image in relation to Nature.
Marie Sheehan (习玛丽) of ’17 is majoring in both Chinese and political science; she took four semesters of Chinese at the college and spent one semester abroad in Beijing with China Studies Institute (CSI) taking intensive language classes; in summer of 2016, she attended CET Harbin intensive language program; her I.S. examines the ways a set of political interests shape state-run media such as the printed newspaper and television programs; by looking at official media coverage of natural and man-made disasters, she has gained insights into the strategies of political propaganda with which the central government maintains its legitimacy and controls cultural symbols important to governance; Marie is currently a graduate student at University of Michigan Law School.
Mega Ito, 张萌红, of ’18 is a double major in Chinese and communication; she is a student of stella performance and in good academic standing; finished her intermediate and advanced intermediate Chinese at the college, Megu is taking one semester of intensive language training at CSI at History Department of Peking University in the fall of 2016; her joint I.S. examines how public media in China shape national identity in a new age in which sexual scandals of cultural celebrities become ways to democratize China as a mass society. Her joint senior I.S. explores the ways in which Americanized Chinese food has impacted the identities of Chinese restaurant workers, and continues to manifest change within its markers of heritage food; she used the two interrelated methods of ethnography and visual ethnography, with the purpose to observe and record the individual experiences of Chinese restaurant workers, thus giving a voice to them, whose stories have been historically marginalized.
William Brethel (白英帅) of 18′ took two years of Chinese at the college with flying colors; he also took other China related course such as Chinese cinema and Chinese history; very active and supportive as a member of Chinese language Suite in Luce; with a strong passion for Chinese culture as well as public service, he took one semester of intensive language class at CSI in China and is returning to CSI this summer again; his junior IS studies key filmic and literary texts that are milestones of women’s political consciousness; after graduation, Bill got enrolled in the East Asian graduate program at OSU and received his MA degree for his research and scholarship on the mythological character the monkey king 孙悟空 and its proliferation and variation in film, book and the arts worldwide;
Aki Shurelds (李子平) of ’18 is from the Bay Area of San Francisco, and plans to minor in Business Economics; she completed the beginning and intermediate Chinese at the College, and is currently taking third year language; after she finished all her language courses in Wooster, Aki devoted all her time to her junior and senior I.S. project, which is on the formation of her own cultural identity as an African- and Chinese American, and child of interracial marriage; from the interviews she conducted with Chinese nationals and non-Chinese on campus, she learned a lot about the history, culture and society from which she emerged as anomaly to most people;
Pierce Rodriguez (王一州) of 19′ declares Chinese major due to the ease with which he successfully finished his beginning Chinese class; he is following his linguistic talent and realizing all his intellectual potentials in the years to come; in the summer of 2016, he finished intermediate Chinese at Beloit College; he has also taken courses in Chinese cinema, Food and Religion, in addition to 301 and 302; he plans to study abroad in China after the fall of 2017 in which he takes Chinese 311 Journey to the West; his junior I.S. project looks into the conflicts in Xinjiang Province between the Uyghurs and Han Chinese, comparing and contrasting them to the same struggle African-Americans go through as a racial minority
Sue Cook (古苏) of ’19 is a double major in Chinese and anthropology; she has been a straight “A” student throughout her first and second year Chinese; so far, she has excelled in the language and shows great promise in reading and writing proficiency; in 223, Chinese cinema, she continues to outperforms her classmates in her analysis of film texts, showing mastery of critical skills to understand cultural differences and conflicting values that go into the formation of Chinese identity; Sue’s junior I.S. deals with the literature of Chinese ethnic tourism circulated in Yunnan Minority Village (云南民族村), with which to educate herself on the complex issue of cultural and ethnic identity in China; while studying in Kunming SIT in Fall 2017 for one full semester, she became interested in traditional Chinese medicine, health, and the environment. In summer 2018, Sue had her internship at the company Cloudbridge in Kunming for 6 weeks, a consulting company that has a travel and news website. Sue wrote and edited news and travel articles for the website, learned how to use google analytics to improve their use of this software, and worked to edit promotional videos in Chinese and English. She also conducted fieldwork for her IS during the summer. Her IS examines the construction of ethnicity at the Yunnan Nationalities Museum and the Yunnan Nationalities Village, as well as the way ethnic minorities in Yunnan construct their own identity and how these people relate and reflect on their own presentations at the park and in the museum. She uses formal and informal interviews and participant observation to examine these constructions. Through her senior IS project, she has been able to practice data collection and analysis. Sue is the recipient of (1) Chinese Departmental Honors, (2) U.S. Critical Language Scholarship, and (3) Princeton in Asia one-year Scholarship.
Julia Cavallo (柯丽雅) of ’19 is a double major of Chinese and Studio Art; Julia has already successfully finished the first year (two semesters) language with flying color, having mastered the basic skills in listening, reading, writing and speaking; she took 201 and 202 before taking one semester of intensive language training at CSI at Peking University in the summer of her junior year; while in Beijing, she visited Buddhist Temple Ba Da Chu (八大处) and interviewed practicing Buddhists on how they came to be a believer; she has already completed required cultural courses in Chinese history and religion (Buddhism); her joint I.S. project is the production of Buddhist devotional arts showing her talent as well as in-depth understanding of Buddhism as a source of spiritual inspiration and a wellspring of creativity.
Benjamin Jenkins (张学友) of ’19 is a double major of Chinese and Physics; Ben was directly placed into second year upon entering into the college as a freshman; since then he has successfully completed 301 and 302 upper level language courses, along with other cultural courses in Chinese history and religion; with the completion of all the required language courses, including 311 which is a reading the original text of Journey to the West, Ben devotes his junior I.S. to discussing the 1962 animation of the monkey king as a modern version of the classical work, interpreting it as a political allegory of Mao’s communist revolution; spend fall of 2019 in CSI at Peking University to take advanced Chinese; this is how the director of CSI remembers him, “Again I like to let you know what a wonderful student Ben is. Not only his teachers praise him for his hard work. But also he is loved by his fellow students, as he is really considerate, willing to help others, and always ready to bring joys to people around him. For instance, when we visited various sites, Ben often like to turn somersaults and have fun with other students. He even did it at the Great Wall. At first I was a little worried. Then he told me he was a gymnastic coach back home. Before leaving, he came to say goodbye to us and some students having classes near our office. All the students were very sad to know he was leaving. One girl even cried sadly in the hallway afterwards. She was sad because she felt she wasn’t a close friend of Ben and thus she couldn’t show him how much she would miss him in the group and help him in a way as he always did to other students. We told her that Ben would leave in the afternoon, then finally she stoped crying and went to the dorm to find Ben, trying to help him packing. … Benjamin is a wonderful student. He is always willing to help other students. Before he left, many students came to send their good wishes. ” Ben is currently working on his senior I.S., which explores how female villains in Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms have been reimagined in modern film adaptations.
John Peterson (裴尚明) of ’20 is a double major of Chinese and International Relation;John took Beginning, Intermediate and high intermediate level language classes at the College; spent his one semester study abroad in CSI of Peking University in his junior year of 2019 spring; his joint I.S. is concerned with the political thought of Sun Zhongshan and how, as the founder of Republic of China, he contributed to the developments of modern Chinese intellectual history and national identity of China as a republic. His joint and bilingual I.S. project , under the guidance of Dr. James Bonk and Dr. Jeff Lantis, is focused on the issue of political legitimacy throughout the Republic Era, an intensely contested issue with which the ruling communist party has to wrestle even in today’s post-Mao and post-socialist China.
Jin Kim (金真) of ’21 is an international student from Korea and a Chinese-Economics double major; he is interested in helping others both in and outside class; took Beginning and Intermediate Chinese at the College and is already thinking fo possible I.S. project in analyzing patriotic songs of pre-modern China, the Republican period and the People’s Republic to see what imageries and symbols are used during different times in Chinese history to provoke nationalist sentiments and patriotism;
Adam Hinden (何亚当) of ’22 is a resident of Washington D.C. area, having successfully completed Beginning level Chinese, he is doing extremely well in Intermediate level classes; especially in listening and speaking, with oral proficiency better than that of those who return from studying abroad; he is able to communicate his ideas accurately and express himself freely in class; besides his linguistic talent, Adam’s other major is Anthropology and he is interested in policy issues; he has taken courses Chinese history and literature with Professors Ng and You;
Jiang Liangliang (姜亮亮) of ’22 has already successfully finished Beginning level Chinese; currently taking intermediate Chinese and other China related courses, such as Classical Chinese with Professor Bonk; her class performance shows that she is someone dependable and conscientious about her responsibilities as a student. She is outgoing and gets along well with the rest of the class. It is heartening to see Liangliang being friends with those around her who are from diverse cultural and ethnical backgrounds. She always makes good decisions to advance her study and increase her opportunities to enrich her life as a young scholar. She is the face of our college as a diverse, vibrant and all-inclusive human community.
Austin Hanna 韩丁 of ’22 is a double major in Chinese and Economics; linguistically gifted and intellectually astute, Austin excelled in Beginning Chinese I as a freshman and audited Intermediate Chinese II at the same time as he was taking Beginning Chinese II; he ended up with perfect scores for all homework and tests in BOTH classes; clearly top 5% of the class and an inspiration to other language learners, Austin continued his success in 301 and 302, as well as other China related courses such as Food and Religion in China; his junior I.S. is a comparative study of several popular love stories and song lyrics in film showing various morale attitudes in Hollywood, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland to romantic love. He is the face of Wooster as one of the top U.S. schools where students study the most, according to Princeton Review.
Frank Adams 弗兰克 of ’22 is a double-major in Chinese and Sociology; an easy-going person getting along well with all his classmates and friends, he has linguistic gift and not easily frustrated in learning a foreign language; he can absorb new language material quickly and comprehend the Chinese syntax on his own;
Carol Maag of ’23 (马恺璐) is Chinese major with two years of language training under her belt; highly motivated to excel and with a quiet determination to learn, Carol has perfected her pronunciation and her skills in speaking and reading stand out in class and in Moodle quizzes; despite the uncertainty about off-campus programs hanging over all language majors expected to study abroad for one semester, Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Carol was unable to study abroad but switched to be a double major in Chinese and Education, driven by her passion for elementary language education. She I.S. reviews the history of English language education in China, and discusses the close ties between the developments of English instruction on the one hand and the modernization projects on the other in China.
Kennedy Shelton of ’24 (师可) comes to the College with already good amount of language training in Chinese from her high school; directly placed into intermediate class, Kennedy keeps out-performing her classmates by hard-work; what distinguishes her as language student is not only her linguistic talent but also the ease with which she speaks Chinese as though a native speaker; it is very apparent that she is comfortable when her mandarin-speaking avatar; little surprise that she declared Chinese major in her freshman year. Kennedy’s I.S. project is focused on women’s treatments and social status in China. Her junior I.S. examines this same issue as being articulated through literary women in fiction and history, from Ban Zhao in Han Dynasty all the way to the present incident of a rural woman chained at home in post-Deng China.
Elijah Shoaf of ’24 (舒易来) is a double major in Chinese and Political Science. He is a quick learner when it comes to reading comprehension and has great scores for all his online quizzes. Highly motivated to excel in Chinese and driven by his strong interests in things global and international, Elijah plans for his semester abroad even a freshman and could not wait till he is able to study abroad. Unswayed by the pandemic that has put every hope in the shadows of uncertainty, Elijah remains undeterred and looks forward to the challenges that will expand his cultural horizons. Beginning with success in language learning, Elijah is working conscientiously to qualify himself as a young scholar with much to contribute to a future in which the U.S. and China are important players.
Finley Bodnar of ’25 博奋力 is a double major in Chinese and political science. He started from scratch in Beginning Chinese as a freshman; he quickly excelled in 101, 102, 201, 202 and 301 at the college. In 2023 Fall, Finley spent one full semester abroad in CET Beijing Program, China, and became quite fluent in oral communication. Meanwhile, he got interested in the illicit drug use in the U.S. and intrigued by China’s role as a possible narco state. These intellectual preoccupations are the subject matters of his junior I.S. Finley’s joint senior I.S. project is titled The Needle and the Damage done: How Does Chinese State Participation in Illicit Global Market Affect Chinese State Security, 针头造成的损害：政府参与世界违禁市场给中国带来的影响. It is on the history and the current state of affairs in the production of Fentanyl in China and its distribution in the States. His research is a thorough investigation of the international chain of drug supply-and-demand across the Pacific, analyzing what goes on behind the war of words. Finley’s oral proficiency in spoken Chinese and his mastery of written Chinese give him the agility to move between two societies and cultures.
Wang, Aoge of ’25 (王傲格) is a double major in Philosophy and Chinese. Born in Beijing, China, Aoge is an international student passionate about ideas and driven by a public spirit. His joint senior I.S. investigates the issue of social justice as being addressed in China during the past two decades of intense economic reform. As China becomes more open to a market economy and decentralizes, private sectors demand greater political representation to dignify the social existence for many individuals. The I.S. topic and research are firmly rooted in his first-hand observation of China’s recent transformation from a planning economy to a liberal economy. His investigation into the problematics of social justice brings to the foreground the fundamental issues of personal liberty and the uneven developments in world history. His work is calibrated to allow him to use his training in the philosophy department and conduct research in to the crisis of Chinese consciousness that has lasted nearly a century.