As classes began on September 14 – live for students in Shanghai and online for students around the world still waiting for visas to enter China – NYU Shanghai welcomed 34 new full-time faculty members from 10 countries for the 2020-2021 academic year. The new members span 20 academic fields from Finance to Art History to Journalism, including the university’s first faculty member in the field of Global Public Health. 

An additional 28 new faculty have joined the university this fall to help deliver in-person courses to the NYU and NYU Abu Dhabi students taking part in the NYU Global Network’s “Go Local” program at NYU Shanghai. 

“We are thrilled that NYU Shanghai continues to attract a remarkable group of faculty across the disciplines, people whose research is stellar and whose dedication to teaching is exemplary,” says Provost and Julius Silver Professor of History Joanna Waley-Cohen. “I know they will greatly enrich our expanded academic community, and am very much looking forward to getting to know them all over the next few weeks.”

NYU Shanghai’s full-time faculty has more than doubled from just 102 members in 2014 to 226 members this year, representing 25 nationalities.

Among this year’s newcomers is Yufeng Professor of Social Science Wu Xiaogang, who will serve as the founding director of NYU Shanghai’s newest research center, the Center for Applied Social and Economic Research (CASER). Wu, whose scholarship examines inequality and social stratification in China, most recently led a team of researchers investigating how family and community ties supported individuals’ well-being under anti-coronavirus quarantine restrictions in Wuhan. “NYU Shanghai offers a perfect environment for scholars to conduct first-rate China research that can have both local reach and global impact,” Wu says.

This fall, the university also welcomes Brian J. Hall as Associate Professor of Global Public Health. Hall, who leads the  Global and Community Mental Health Research Group, focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to population health challenges, particularly among migrant worker groups in the Asia-Pacific region.   

“My work in China has been ongoing for more than eight years, and I view NYU Shanghai as an excellent home and platform for this work to continue and expand,” Hall says. “I am excited about the university’s intimate scholarly community, the exceptional students, and the emphasis on interdisciplinary research, which I believe is absolutely essential to address even the most protracted public health challenges.”

Hall says he is looking forward to teaching several courses for undergraduate students this academic year, including a global mental health course and a capstone seminar for seniors  producing original scholarship.

Despite the unique challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic and closure of national borders, many new faculty members, including Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program Marcos Martínez, expressed enthusiasm about their students’ and colleagues’ flexibility and adaptability.

“The university’s Writing Program has been so supportive and willing to explore new modes of teaching and ways of building connections with our students,” Martinez says. “I look forward to working with my colleagues and learning from their experiences.”

Visiting Associate Professor of History Jacqueline Armijo, who will take part in NYU Shanghai’s “Go Local” program, says she appreciates the program’s ability to confront some of the problems caused by the pandemic. 

“When the opportunity arose to teach students face to face in Shanghai, I could not resist,” Armijo says. “I have been very impressed with NYU Shanghai’s conscientious COVID precaution policies, and I very much appreciate the opportunity to be able to teach safely in a classroom with students face to face, or at least masked-face to masked-face.”

New faculty are also looking forward to connecting with the campus and the city’s uniquely dynamic international community. “I’ve been living in Shanghai for a few years now, and I really love the city’s cosmopolitan energy,” says Clinical Assistant Professor of Spanish Allen Young. “At NYU Shanghai, that energy is more palpable than almost anywhere else.”

Sun Wenting, who joins NYU Shanghai as Assistant Arts Professor of Dance, concurred. “I think the campus reflects the city with its international broad spectrum of nationalities and its drive towards success,” says Sun. “I was fortunate to previously guest teach at NYU Shanghai and was instantly exposed to the positive and engaging environment and the up-beat community, so I already have a really clear vision that this will be a great place to work.”

Others are eager to explore the city’s potential as a hub of research and innovation, including Instructor of Operations Management Zhang Jiding. 

“Shanghai is one of the most dynamic cities around the globe, and it is a place where some of the most innovative business practices have been born. As a researcher, I am eager to learn from these practices and study the drivers of such innovations,” says Zhang.  “As an educator, I am thrilled to convey what I have learned to my students, and to prepare them for their future leadership in the fast-changing world.”

The new faculty members in 2020-2021 are:
 

This story comes to us from NYU Shanghai. You can find the original here