Global Dimensions

News and notes from across NYU's Campuses and Sites

NYU Shanghai Chancellor Yu Lizhong Retires and Is Succeeded by Educator and Scholar Tong Shijun

Posted on July 1, 2020, modified on June 30, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

NYU Shanghai Chancellor Yu Lizhong stepped down in June as Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Directors of NYU Shanghai. At the final board meeting of the academic year this morning, the board accepted his resignation and appointed Tong Shijun, professor of philosophy at East China Normal University (ECNU), as the second Chancellor of NYU Shanghai and the Chairman of the Board.

“I’d like to express my gratitude to the university leadership, with whom I’ve enjoyed working closely over the years; to the faculty and staff, who have devoted themselves to making NYU Shanghai a model of Sino-US cooperation in higher education; to every class of students who have made us proud; and to everyone who has supported the university’s development,” Yu said. “NYU Shanghai’s value and significance have only become stronger since its establishment. Its spirit of exploration, reform, and innovation has taken root here. I truly hope that everyone cherishes it. My dearest wish is for NYU Shanghai to thrive and keep flourishing.”

“When the history of NYU Shanghai is written, one name will be on almost every page: Yu Lizhong,” said Andrew Hamilton, president of New York University. “Over his tenure as chancellor, Chancellor Yu’s leadership has enabled NYU Shanghai to blossom into a vibrant success, with award-winning faculty and students, research centers and curricular innovations that benefit the entire NYU ecosystem, and an atmosphere of dynamism and inclusion that blends the best attributes of China, the United States, and all of the nations represented on its campus into a true community. We will be forever grateful for his wisdom and leadership.”

Yu, 71, was appointed NYU Shanghai’s first Chancellor in April 2012, soon after the Chinese Ministry of Education gave its preliminary approval to allow ECNU and New York University to establish the world’s first Sino-US research university. Yu was a natural choice for the position, since as president of ECNU, a position he held for six years until he became NYU Shanghai chancellor, he was deeply involved in negotiations between ECNU, NYU, and government officials to create the university. Yu’s relationship with NYU dates back to 2006, when NYU opened its first study away center in China on the ECNU campus. As Chancellor, Yu shepherded NYU Shanghai from its earliest days in the ECNU Geography building with a single of freshman class of fewer than 300 students to a thriving university on Century Avenue with over 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students from some 70 countries poised to move to a brand new 114,000 square meter campus in Pudong’s Qiantan District in 2022. Yu retires after a more than 40-year career in higher education, having served as a professor of geography, Vice President, and President of ECNU. From 2003 to 2006, Yu also served as President of Shanghai Normal University.

Upon stepping down, Yu immediately takes on the title of Chancellor Emeritus of NYU Shanghai.

“I have cherished the partnership of Yu Lizhong in the building of NYU Shanghai,” said Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman. “Tong Shijun is a most worthy successor, and I look forward to our work together in the years ahead.”

Tong Shijun, a well-recognized professor of philosophy and former Party Secretary of ECNU, said he was honored to have the trust of ECNU and the board.

“I was born in a working-class family and spent my childhood in the countryside. … I began to learn English after President Richard Nixon’s visit to China. And I was among the first group of college graduates after the Cultural Revolution,” Tong said. “All my experiences have taught me the importance of education — especially higher education, as well as the significance of world peace and Sino-US friendship.”

“I will, together with Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman, Provost Joanna Waley-Cohen, and all other colleagues of the university, work dutifully to move the university even further by carrying on the fine traditions of higher education both of China and the USA, contributing to the progresses of the host region of the university, and strengthening the cooperations between its two founding partners, ECNU and NYU,” he added.

A Shanghai native, 62-year-old Tong helped lead ECNU from 2011 to 2019, while also teaching philosophy at the university. Before that he first served as the Vice Secretary at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences from 2004 to 2011 and then also as Director of its Institute of Philosophy. He received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in philosophy at ECNU and joined ECNU’s philosophy department in 1984, becoming an associate professor and a full professor respectively in 1991 and 1994. Tong earned his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Bergen, Norway, where he delved into the works of contemporary German philosopher Jürgen Habermas. In 2000, Tong spent a year at Columbia University in New York City as a Fulbright Scholar. He has published more than 10 books and over 100 papers on epistemology, practical philosophy, and social theory in Chinese, English, and other languages.

“In Chancellor Tong, NYU Shanghai has found an individual who embodies the power and promise of a global education, as well as the importance of ensuring broad accessibility to higher learning in order to develop the best and brightest within every generation. We’re honored to have him steward NYU Shanghai as it embarks on this next exciting chapter,” said President Hamilton.

This story comes to us from NYU Shanghai and you can read more here.

NYU Prague Instructor on Travel Writing in the Time of No Travel

Posted on June 24, 2020, modified on June 16, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

NYU Prague Instructor Veronika Bednářová, who teaches the Travel Writing course, shares her thoughts on remotely teaching her course during a time when no one can travel.

Paris. Shanghai. Oklahoma. Toronto. Vienna. Students from around the world used to meet in our Travel Writing class in Prague, the Czech Republic. For the past 14 years, I have found great comfort in seeing the students leave Prague every weekend in starfish-like directions. I enjoyed reading their passionately written articles from the various European destinations they visited and found so cool.

Now I see them in their pajamas. In the background, there are posters from the high school years before they left home. We share the mood swings of our Wifi networks together. I sometimes hear a dog barking, a younger sibling giggling in the next room. We chucked our syllabus: the Travel Trends 2020 section became completely irrelevant, and one student’s planned trip to Brno, the second biggest city in the Czech Republic, was left behind at the NYU Prague dormitory as a totally unachievable dream.

The world closed, but not our creative writing class.

We Zoom thru our non-existent travels together. I appreciate how much the students have taught me about virtual platforms. Not only do we dream about traveling, we live for traveling. Thanks to Zoom, we constantly plan our future travels, and we take advantage of our past travel experiences.

More than before, we feel we don’t have to travel in style but with good intentions for the planet in mind. The whole tourist industry is asking the same questions at the same time as our class is; it is easy to keep up with those questions thanks to new embedded videos about the travel industry and the newly-recorded interviews with travel specialists. We see a lot of professional travelers in their rooms, in their hometowns.

My TW students still keep their travel journals even though their physical travel is from the bathroom to the living room. They keep writing travel pieces. They just finished profiles, conducted via phone/Skype/Zoom interviews, and it has been an honor to get to know their family members through this forum: an 86-year old grandmother who cant wait to be taken on a tour of Greenwich Village by her grandchild after the quarantine. An 11-year-old sibling who is, like Phoebe in The Catcher in the Rye, the moral compass of the whole extended family.

We might have learned less about foreign destinations during our class, which I have re-named Travel Writing in the Time of No Travel. But we have learned much more about ourselves. For a creative writing course, I can´t imagine a better device.

NYU Buenos Aires Students Combat Stereotypes in Argentine Football

Posted on June 10, 2020, modified on June 7, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

In Argentina, football is sacred. The beautiful game is widely watched — and worshiped — often with deep passion. Unfortunately, descriptions of the passionate Argentine fan can at times veer toward stereotype, and two NYU Buenos Aires students decided to contribute to a local project trying to address the negative stereotypes of football fans, which they viewed as unfair representations.

Leila Al Dzheref, a sophomore at NYU Abu Dhabi, and Arik Rosenstein, a junior at the School of Professional Studies, thought sharing stories about “regular” Argentine football fans would go a long way in dispelling the notion that the country’s football fans’ passion somehow by definition violent or barbaric. They developed a project, El Mismo Amor in Passion FC, provides a different perspective by sharing stories about “regular” Argentine football fans. Al Dzeref and Rosenstein recently became involved in the Passion FC movement, hoping to highlight the real mindsets and beliefs of Argentine football supporters because they believe it is important to share these stories. Passion FC existed as a social movement before the students arrived in Buenos Aires, but they were able to make a contribution and remain active.

Passion FC was founded in Buenos Aires 2018 by local football fans hoping to engage others by creating a space for conversations around football. They have a website and social media presence, and sometimes organise events. The NYU Buenos Aires students’ El Miso Amor project was a series of Instagram stories. Passion FC released these stories to raise awareness about the misconceptions of Argentine football supporters.

Although it was Al Dzheref’s interest in learning Spanish that led her to study at NYU Buenos Aires, she is a huge football fan, so saw this also as a great opportunity to explore the culture of Argentine football. Rosenstein’s passion for sport has inspired him to pursue a BS in Sports Management, Media, and Business at SPS’ Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport. He said he chose to study at NYU Buenos Aires in part because his experience studying at NYU Accra in fall 2016 was so positive that he knew he “needed to have another unique and different experience.” Rosenstein immediately started attending football games and, like Al Dzheref, was keen to experience Argentine football culture.

Together Al Dzheref and Rosenstein started working with Passion FC, focusing on using football to facilitate conversations around contemporary social issues in Argentina. They developed their project, El Mismo Amor or “the same love,” after becoming acquainted with enthusiastic and kind fans of Argentine football. Despite being advised to be wary of certain clubs or neighborhoods because the football supporters were “animals” or “barbarians,” the two went to many matches and engaged the Argentine fans they met in conversation. According to Rosenstein, they “asked Argentinian supporters about their love of football and also about the common negative stereotypes of fans.” They found people eager to talk and after “moments of pure and authentic connection,” they realized that although football may be supported in different ways, the love of the game is the same.

The stories highlighted in El Miso Amori illustrated the vibrancy of Argentine football cultures and fans. One story focuses on Naza, whom Al Dzheref and Rosenstein met at a match in Lanus, a city just south of Buenos Aires. After asking him where they might purchase a Lanus team scarf, Naza invited the students to sit with him and explained what it means to be from Lanus. Bonding through football, they learned so much more about his life than they would have without that common interest.

Another story features Camilla, whom they met at a Velez Sarsfield match, the very first match Al Dzheref and Rosenstein attended in Buenos Aires. She was with her high school friends, and they bonded over being pushed and pulled by the other supporters. According to Rosenstein, “We had in-depth discussions about why Camila comes with her friends, her viewpoints of the team, the experience and of course her love of the game. Being welcomed by a group of highschoolers with no need to talk to us, shows just how many connections and social differences this game has.” The students found that Camilla and her friends valued showing them what it means to be from Velez. They left knowing that the next time they would go back, they would have friends at the stadium.

Al Dzheref and Rosenstein are quick to emphasize that they do not mean to imply that are not serious issues in Argentinian football or that all stadiums are safe. Rather, they say, “El Mismo Amor is about having a conversation.” They explain that it is about considering another culture, respectfully challenging other views or opinions. According to Al Dazheref, seeing the passionate commitment of the Argentinian football fans inspired her to “want to change their representation for the better.” Through El Mismo Amor they are “showing another side of football, not the side of fights and violence that is usually reported in the media.”

The El Mismo Amor project, via the Passion FC website and social media channels, has reached over 90,000 people, according to Rosenstein. He and Al Dzheref collaborated on sharing seven individual stories on Instagram, painting a picture of the different football cultures. The responses and the ensuing conversations have been positive and resulted in dialogues and debates about the public perceptions of violence in football and football fans, something Rosenstein believes demonstrates effective advocacy online. Al Dzheref finds that the move to remote learning because of COVID-19 has allowed them to think strategically about future campaigns and effectively sharing content.

Both students remain active with Passion FC and Rosenstein emphasizes they only “met because of NYU’s global commitment, so it’s a testament to NYU.” Al Dzheref is enthusiastic about her time at NYU Buenos Aires saying, “My experience in Argentina was one of the best in my life.” She was grateful for the opportunity “to see Argentina through my own eyes, without the distortions of others.” She and Rosenstein are similarly trying to open eyes through this project and encourage us to engage in dialogues about stereotypes and assumptions in Argentine football.

NYU Washington DC student Brianna Hall Hosts Dialogue on Inequity in Education

Posted on June 4, 2020, modified on May 31, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

Inequality in the education system is often debated and increasingly in the media due to COVID-19 and the global transition to remote learning. NYU Washington, DC recently hosted a virtual discussion to participate in the conversation on inequity in education and education reform, with special attention to the COVID-19 pandemic. Entitled The Education Divide: Inequity in the Age of COVID-19, this event was conceived of by former DC Dialogues Executive Board Student Member Brianna Hall, a rising Steinhardt sophomore. The dialogue aimed to bring attention to the inequalities in the United States K-12 education system that hinder higher education being an opportunity for all.

Finding that the COVID-19 crisis made existing inequalities, such as access to technology and the uneven distribution of resources, even more apparent, Hall explains that she wanted to organize this dialogue “because educational equality is the cornerstone to social equality.” Hall believes that a quality education is a crucial “building block to a brighter future” regardless of background. And further believes that those fortunate enough to obtain a higher education have a responsibility to have discussions about and consider solutions to the enduring inequalities in the education system. “We must never stop talking about those that the education system leaves behind,” says Hall, “and those future children the education system will continue to leave behind unless reform is implemented.”

One reform that Hall believes is “critical” to improving the education system is “educating the whole child.” This includes teaching children practical life and personal skills alongside the academic curriculum so that students leave school with the tools necessary to move forward in all areas of life. Hall also believes that it is important to “emphasize the value of each student’s individual culture and identity” from an early age to foster confidence and self-acceptance. Another reform that Hall sees as key is “increased public school funding and increased teacher pay.” With this increased funding, she would like to see “high standards of dedication, quality and professionalism” and believes teachers should receive summer training on how to support students emotionally and socially as well as academically.

The discussion naturally focused on possible solutions to mitigate inequalities and also ideas to better prepare school systems for future, similar extenuating circumstances. The panel included notable experts including Dr. Martha Kanter, Executive Director of the College Promise Campaign and a Senior Fellow at NYU Steinhardt’s Institute for Higher Education Policy; Dr. Tiffany Jones, Senior Director of Higher Education Policy, The Education Trust; Dr. David Kirkland, Executive Director, NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, Associate Professor of English and Urban Education, NYU Steinhardt; and Dr. Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, Associate Professor, International Education, NYU Steinhardt. Hall moderated the discussion.

Hall found moderating the event a meaningful experience and was impressed with the passion and knowledge of the panelists. One aspect of the discussion that she considered “illuminating” related to the COVID-19 pandemic because “people largely view the transition to remote learning and the closure of schools as the crisis, however, there has always been a crisis of inequality in education – COVID-19 just makes this crisis impossible to ignore.” In exploring this theme, Dr. Kirkland emphasized the structure of vulnerabilities that create what we often call “marginalized children.” These vulnerabilities can be related to a child’s socio-economic status – living in poverty, food or housing insecurity, insufficient adult support at home, coming to school hungry or with inadequate clothing, needing to work before and after school. Prejudice is another common structural vulnerability. Students facing assumptions or bias at school must study in a hostile environment, which compromises their abilities to learn or grow successfully. Discussing these vulnerabilities and the obstacles children face was “not an easy discussion to have,” according to Hall, but she believes it is important not to shy away from those difficult or uncomfortable conversations.

Hall was pleased with the discussion, saying, “It was everything that I anticipated and hoped for.” She hopes that this dialogue will continue to spur conversations generating ideas and solutions about how to improve the education system.

Virtual Commencements for New York, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai

Posted on June 1, 2020, modified on June 30, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

NYU celebrated its graduates in virtual commencements involving students, faculty, staff, and families joining from across the globe. Having to postpone the Commencement Exercises in Yankee Stadium due to COVID-19, the virtual commencement for New York took place on May 20. NYU Abu Dhabi’s commencement, celebrating all its seniors have accomplished, followed on May 27. NYU Shanghai’s commencement celebrated both its students and the importance of China-US cooperation on May 29. Congratulations graduates!

NYU London Community Stays Connected and Well

Posted on May 28, 2020, modified on May 22, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

The NYU London community is staying connected and looking out for one another’s wellness, all virtually. The Student Life and Wellness committee staff members have created a number of resources to foster a sense of togetherness and warmth even while apart.

The NYU London Student Affairs team have been working on a whole host of events to try and engage students remotely. The website has a new section, “NYU London at Home.” Virtual London highlights a hand-picked selection of remote events and activities taking place across London and the UK. It offers quite a few ways to get a virtual glimpse of London, including a curated set of virtual tours, online exhibits, and recorded performances. Students can discover a great deal and “enjoy British culture from the comfort of your bed!” A great way to safely experience London at the moment. The team has also been engaging with students, both past and present, via social media, in particular via Instagram (@NYULondon).

According to Andrew Davidson, Student Life Coordinator, “NYU London’s Bingo was a huge success and so is the QuaranTIME series; a series of posts encouraging self-care during these difficult times.” Students are also quite active. The Global Ambassadors and Global Equity Fellow will be hosting Instagram takeovers in the coming weeks to talk about their lives during lockdown. Moreover, according to Davidson, “the weekly NYU London newsletter, the Sunday Sandwich, continues to be appreciated by the student population and the Bedford Square News, NYU London’s student-led news, are starting to take creative contributions from students.”

NYU London is also focused on wellness, which is so important during this challenging time. A new Wellness committee newsletter for staff and other outreach encourages the community to stay connected and to look out for one another. The newsletter contains wellness tips, including a section on COVID-19 and mental health. It reminds everyone about the NYU London Google+ community, has a staff quiz, a reminder about a virtual all staff happy hour, and more. A nice way to stay connected and positive during a challenging time!

Jack Ma to Deliver Commencement Address to the NYU Shanghai Class of 2020

Posted on May 25, 2020, modified on May 22, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

Philanthropist, entrepreneur, and teacher Jack Ma will deliver the keynote address to the Class of 2020 at NYU Shanghai’s Fourth Commencement on May 29.

Ma, the founder of the global technology company Alibaba Group and the Jack Ma Foundation, recorded his message to the Class of 2020 from his offices in Hangzhou. “It is a pleasure and honor, during this extraordinary time and through this unique way, to join this important moment for the graduates of NYU Shanghai,” Ma said.

Ma’s remarks will be delivered at NYU Shanghai’s virtual commencement ceremonies, which will be livestreamed beginning at 20:20 (8:20 p.m.) China Standard Time.

“Jack Ma’s words to this class will no doubt serve as inspiration to our graduates as they pursue their careers and dreams in the future,” said NYU Shanghai Chancellor Yu Lizhong.

For his innovative and inspiring achievements in business and philanthropy, particularly his recent leadership in helping communities and countries around the world fight COVID-19, Chancellor Yu Lizhong, Vice Chancellor Jeff Lehman, Provost Joanna Waley-Cohen and Associate Vice Chancellor Ding Shuzhe also presented Ma with the NYU Shanghai Chancellor’s Medal of Honor.

“The Chancellor’s Medal recognizes Jack Ma’s cosmopolitan spirit and his sustained efforts in the domains of education, sustainability, and philanthropy. We are especially grateful for the support he has provided to New York during the pandemic crisis.” said Vice Chancellor Jeff Lehman.

In 1999, with 17 colleagues working in his Hangzhou apartment, Ma launched Alibaba.com, an English-language website to help Chinese small businesses reach the global marketplace. That single website grew into the Alibaba Group, a global leader in e-commerce, logistics, big data, cloud computing, and entertainment that is transforming the way people live and work.

Ma stepped down as Alibaba’s Executive Chairman in 2019 to dedicate his time to philanthropic endeavors. He currently serves as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum, president of the General Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs and chairman of the China Entrepreneur Club. He was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres as co-chair of the UN High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation in 2018.

Ma graduated from Hangzhou Normal University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English education and worked for six years as an English teacher before becoming an entrepreneur.

NYU Buenos Aires Director Anna Kazumi Stahl on Coping with Uncertainty by Understanding Collectivist Cultures

Posted on May 22, 2020, modified on May 16, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

Can learning from other cultures inspire resilience in challenging times? NYU Buenos Aires Director Anna Kazumi Stahl believes so and recently gave a TEDx talk on Japanese cultural codes as appropriate inspiration for social distancing. She has now been asked by TED to participate in the main conference this year as one of the foreign language contributors. This year’s main event, on May 23, to be conducted entirely remotely, will feature Kazumi Stahl as one of its Spanish-speaking presenters.

Kazumi Stahl’s original talk, How Collectivist Cultures React to the Pandemic, was organized by TEDxRiodelaPlata, a TEDx group in Buenos Aires that functions as a think tank which focuses on community engagement through their events. Her history with the group dates back to 2013, when she was asked to explore her own identity and her choice to write in a foreign language. A fiction writer and scholar of comparative literature, Kazumi Stahl, the daughter of a Japanese mother and a father of German descent father, is an American citizen who calls Buenos Aires home, and writes primarily in Spanish.

As Argentina began its program of isolation and social distancing in response to COVID-19, TEDxRiodelaPlata was invited by Argentine national public television to select eight speakers that could help people consider the positives of the situation.

Kazumi Stahl’s talk – which is available online with subtitles here – explores the ideas which inform collectivist cultures, and considers how to interpret certain behaviors as gestures of respect or closeness. The aim of this talk was “to consider other cultures so as a way to offer encouragement or hope for those feeling overwhelmed or afraid.”

Among the Japanese cultural codes that Kazumi Stahl considers are:

Hedatari	Distance	“Rather than a coldness, this gesture conveys acknowledgement of the other as not to be invaded or imposed upon, as if saying, ‘I see you.’ Japanese culture doesn´t call for an immediate physical intimacy like handshaking […]; instead things begin with a conscientious giving of space, respectfully interacting, and then over time and with the right conditions closeness may arise.”
Wa	Harmony	“[A]cross cultures we experience ways of connecting ourselves to larger entities we are a part of, such as the bonds signalled by a Mets cap, a national team jersey at the Olympics, or even the NYU torch. In Japan this concept of ‘wa’ extends to a societal level. And individuals are deeply motivated to help maintain the broader harmony.”
Amae	Dependency	“This is the idea of relying personally on the interconnectedness of individuals, so it is a deeply rooted notion in a collectivist culture. It leads to the expectation, indeed the confidence and trust, that other people will take of me and that I will take care of them.”

“One of the things that emerges from working across lines of cultural differences,” she explains, “is that you become more embracing of not knowing.” Kazumi Stahl believes that not knowing is among what is most challenging now and that this is also true of working interdisciplinarily. “It requires you to have respect for other disciplines,” according to Kazumi Stahl, “because without it, your work will become superficial.”

When she is not teaching, Kazumi Stahl dedicates most of her time to creative writing, and notes that her background in working at the intersection of disciplines and cultures has proven to be very helpful during this global health crisis.

“There is a very key aspect of the creative process that may be deeply impacted by a crisis like this, but that also provides a space where you can process it,” Kazumi Stahl says. “Writing and art is a means for allowing emotions to emerge and take shape. There is a great deal of resilience in the imaginative forces of literature and the other arts that we can rely on again as a place to imagine possible futures.”

NYU Washington DC Student Tracey Lan Shares her COVID-19 Experiences

Posted on May 19, 2020, modified on May 11, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

Studying abroad can be a time of great transition and growth, perhaps all the more so when plans are interrupted. For one student, focusing on recording the details of her COVID-19 experiences has become a way to not only document this time for herself, but also to connect with and encourage others. Tracey Lan, a Global China Studies sophomore from NYU Shanghai planning to minor in Business and Social Science, is studying away in NYU Washington, DC this semester. She returned home to China because of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been vlogging (video blogging) about her departure from DC, quarantine,and her mental health.

Tracey initially chose to study in Washington DC “for all its wonderful museums, its cherry blossoms, its livable environment (which is all shown in my NYU DC vlogs!).” She was also keen to learn more about American politics in the nation’s capital, to explore career interests through the internship program, and to learn to lead through the Global Leadership Program.

Tracey started vlogging last year in NYU Shanghai to record her experiences. “I wanted to vlog so that I can always go back to those days in the future, even when I am very very old — I love the idea of nostalgia,” says Tracey. The positive feedback and comments from friends and followers further inspired her to develop content that may be encouraging or informative for others, she adds. For her COVID-19 vlogs specifically, Tracey says she had a “sense of a mission to communicate” because she noticed a great deal of misunderstanding and a lack of information about what was happening in China. She wanted to show “the real life of a Chinese student impacted by COVID-19 in order to have a better sense of China during the pandemic,” and says she hopes that her vlogs will “inform, inspire people, and cheer them up.”

Tracey also feels as though she has been relatively fortunate. Despite a turbulent journey home, she believes she missed the worst of the pandemic in both China and in the US. Tracey also said she feels very fortunate for the support she received from NYU Washington, DC. Tracey’s time in mandatory quarantine was especially brightened when she received the news that she was a recipient of the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellowship.

These experiences have strengthened Tracey’s belief that everyone has the right to global education. Reflecting on what people think and say about COVID-19 pandemic which she has experienced in both the Chinese and US settings, Tracey has a sense of purpose. She wishes to engage actively in global education in the COVID-19 situation, that enlightens people to pursue knowledge and approach global issues from a less self-centered, more respectful and sympathetic perspective.

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Rich History of Australian Distance Learning Prepares NYU Sydney for New Modes of Education

Posted on May 15, 2020, modified on July 17, 2020 by Martha J Bekink

It had already been a most unusual summer in Sydney with once-in-a-generation bushfires grabbing global headlines. But as the fires began to subside, Australia faced a new challenge — the arrival of the COVID-19 virus.

Although Sydney was one of the last of NYU’s global sites to be closed, the spread of COVID-19 meant an inevitable movement to new modes of learning. According to the Times Higher Education, higher education is “pivotal” to Australia’s economy, contributing an estimated $66 billion to it each year. Thus the shift to moving to distance model in response to COVID-19 was hugely consequential not just for NYU Sydney, but all higher education institutions in Australia.

Australia actually has a long history of distance learning. “The School of the Air,” a generic term for teachers catering to children in remote and regional Australia has been in operation since June 8, 1951. In the early years of delivery, lessons were originally sent via the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Alice Springs, with classes later conducted via shortwave radio. The modernised service now sees students typically receiving one hour of face-to-face learning from teachers before spending the remainder of the day working through problems and content with family members. The service is sometimes affectionately called “the biggest school in the world” considering “classrooms” consist of roughly only 120 students spread over 1.3 million square kilometers. “The Bachelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education has also utilised distance learning to service its Indigenous students,” notes Petronella Vaarzon-Morel, an anthropologist who teaches at NYU Sydney.

Vaarzon-Morel was in the Northern Territory for field work at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak, and was able to smoothly transition to delivering lectures online. Vaarzon-Morel notes that she has made the most of her situation of continuing classes remotely from the Northern Territory. She is planning a socially-distant, in-person Q and A at Charles Darwin University with anthropologist Dr. Lisa Stefannoff, an NYU alum, and NYU students via Zoom. Stefannoff has worked on Indigenous screen production, broadcasting, and community arts in Alice Springs for the last 15 years. Vaarzon-Morel also recently recorded an interview with senior lawyer David Avery from the Central Land Council, an Indigenous community organization that represents the Indigrous people in land issues.

Fran Molloy, an NYU Sydney instructor for Environmental Journalism has been pre-recording one-on-one interviews with local experts to supplement her lecture material.

“I have been fortunate that two journalists who wrote articles I had assigned as readings, were willing to speak to me on Zoom about how they wrote the story, what their challenges were, and even offer some tips for students who have feature articles coming up,” she says.

“Both writers live in distant parts of Australia so it would normally be tricky to get them into a classroom. It feels like the virtual classroom (despite its many disadvantages) has given us the opportunity to break down the distance barrier.”

The class also had the opportunity to speak to leading water scientist Bradley Moggridge, whose work combining the traditional knowledge of his Aboriginal ancestors with western science has been groundbreaking in Australia.

NYU Sydney has also hosted online field trips, with one class having a virtual tour of traditional aboriginal fish traps. Molloy recently organised a socially-distant personal video tour of a local community garden, tailored for NYU Sydney students by the founder. A portion of Fran Molloy’s virtual field trip to the San Souci Community Garden can be viewed via NYU Stream here.

Marcus Neeld, Assistant Director of Student Life at NYU Sydney has also worked at continuing to maintain community beyond the classroom. “Strong relationships between staff and students have been the hallmark of the NYU Sydney experience,” he says.

“Our team has been challenged to maintain these relationships with students across multiple time zones. As we transitioned to remote learning, our team has been available to provide consistent individualized support. More broadly, we have moved our programming online, replacing previously familiar in-person meeting places with virtual meeting rooms and online hangout spaces. We have introduced relaxation programming and we regularly host friendly virtual competitions and opportunities for students to share with us their homes, pets, hobbies, and study spaces. NYU Sydney’s Wellness Counsellor, Dr. Lauren Stahl continues to support students on an individual basis, and student leaders are encouraged to continue making their valuable contributions.”