Shanghai Museum
Angela Yu China Summer Fellow 2016 China
Fellowships
南腔北调: Accents
Angela Yu China Summer Fellow 2016 China The Chinese language class I’m taking is called Elementary Chinese for Advanced beginners, meaning that it’s a course for students with a Mandarin-speaking background who never formally learned to read or write in Chinese. Though I found the class to be a good fit for my level in … Continue reading 南腔北调: Accents
One Month In China
Eli Clemens Gallatin China Summer Fellow 2016 China As of today I have been in China for over a month. Besides traveling to Xi’an for three days, I have stayed put in Shanghai. Because I will also be studying away here next semester, I have not felt much pressure to travel to other parts of China until I have a good … Continue reading One Month In China
Florence, a Home Gardener in Makhaza, South Africa
Nina Weithorn Gallatin Africa House Fellowship Cape Town, South Africa Its midday in Makhaza, one of the many former townships established during Apartheid, and I am in the backseat of a passenger van with my supervisor who is trying with great difficulty to direct the driver through the narrow and sporadically marked streets. Although apartheid … Continue reading Florence, a Home Gardener in Makhaza, South Africa
关系: Connections
Angie Shu China Summer Fellow 2016 Shanghai, China To succeed in China, a businessman must have guanxi (关系). To describe this concept insufficiently in English terms, guanxi is a network of influence formed by connections and relationships. In just the first two weeks of being in Shanghai, I was able to understand the importance of guanxi, … Continue reading 关系: Connections
全球化 Part 2
Matthew Gibson China Summer Fellow 2016 Shanghai, China From an American perspective, conversations about race, ethnicity, and identity are increasingly common. However, in China, these conversations happen at very small scales. Almost the entire country shares the same ethnic heritage, and there is no adequate translation of “identity” be it personal or social. But at NYU … Continue reading 全球化 Part 2
全球化 Part 1
Matthew Gibson China Summer Fellow 2016 Shanghai, China I refer to my self-designed major in Gallatin as “Globalization”, the academic and philosophic study of a changing world culture. I focus on questions of identity development as it relates to physical, political, and metaphorical boundaries as well as how they are changing in the face of an … Continue reading 全球化 Part 1
Sustainable Agriculture in Cape Town, South Africa
Nina Weithorn Gallatin Africa House Fellowship Cape Town, South Africa Just east of the main city center of Cape Town, South Africa, in the Constantia region, lies a tiny agricultural haven among vast wine vineyards and suburban homes. Soil for Life, a non-profit organization that teaches subsistence farming in township communities, established their main offices … Continue reading Sustainable Agriculture in Cape Town, South Africa
Lingering Longtangs
Matthew Gibson China Summer Fellow 2016 Shanghai, China The French Concession is home to prominent Shanghai landmarks that earned the city it’s title of, “Paris of the East.” As you stroll along the narrow streets, you can imagine the splendor of this district of the city in it’s heyday in the 1950’s. But, today, the unique … Continue reading Lingering Longtangs
Party Tricks
Matthew Gibson China Summer Fellow 2016 Shanghai, China When I started learning Mandarin Chinese at New York University, I was thrilled at the prospect of learning such a unique language. However, I will be the first to admit that my excitement came from the prospect of being different. The rarity of Caucasian Americans who were able … Continue reading Party Tricks