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Chinese Government and Politics to
Game Theory to Modernity and World
Social Thought. Students feel the pressure
of adjusting to classroom immersion
in their target languages—but,
like students in previous years, they
will discover internal resources they
never knew they had. The fruit of
their struggles will be an augmented
repertoire of fresh ways of conceptualizing
both the world around them and,
even more crucially, the human beings
around them—including their confoundingly
other, and stubborn, views
of the world and how it should be.
Turning to the SAIS “Year of Agriculture”
theme, last year and this year
have seen field trips and research dedicated
to agriculture—not surprising
in a country where more than a third
of the population is still primarily
engaged in growing food.
Last spring, Professor Adam Webb
led a field trip for his Politics of Rural
Development class to a village in
nearby Anhui Province, where students
interviewed farmers and spent
the night in locals’ homes. This year
Professor Zhao Shudong will again
lead students on field trips to the
northern part of Jiangsu Province to
see how agricultural policies affect
farmers. And second-year master of
arts in International Studies student
Shirlene Yee N’12 will be conducting
field research in Taiwan on various
aspects of agriculture, including
the impact of cross-Strait policies on
farmers’ livelihoods and on the everdeepening
ties between Taiwan and
the mainland.
Personally, I could not be more
thrilled to be the new American codirector
of this ever-more-venerable
institution. And yet, the accumulation
of years—25 under our belts, now
into a 26th—has done nothing to dim
the shine of the radical idea made real
For those of us engaged in the mission of education, it is our
great fortune to enjoy in autumn a second spring: a time not only
of sowing but also of blossoming as we embark on another year
of exploration and learning.
by JHU President Steven Muller and
Nanjing University President Kuang
Yaming. If anything, as Sino-Western
educational opportunities continue to
expand and as prospective students
have more and more options, the
unique advantages of the HNC as a
place where Chinese and international
Year of
Agriculture
atSAIS
Hopkins
Scholars at
HNC
Students are not the only
ones seeking to understand
the new global balance
with Asia. Academics
are also finding ways
that China influences
their fields of study. In this vein, the
Hopkins-Nanjing Center is pleased
to host the Hopkins Scholars Program
in conjunction with the Foreign
Policy Institute (FPI) at SAIS.
Born of a recognized need for highquality
individual and collaborative
research between U.S.-based scholars
and the rest of the world, this
program will encourage comparative
analyses and interdisciplinary projects
in Nanjing.
Two scholars will be selected by
an academic committee to take up
residence and pursue their topics
of study at the HNC. This initiative
will also bring two in-depth research
projects and new discussions to
the center, contributing to the
intellectual stimulation of other
scholars-in-residence, center faculty
and students.
Johns Hopkins University’s
increased contribution to scholarly
research at the HNC will create a
pipeline for future faculty at the
center, in collaboration with the FPI.
This is an important step in informing
the academic and practitioner
communities of the resources that
exist in Nanjing. The ultimate goal is
to feature the center as a place to conduct
research and to share expertise
on and in China.
The Hopkins Scholars Program
was made possible by the university’s
Benjamin and Rhea Yeung Center
for Collaborative China Studies,
which seeks to deepen understanding
between the United States and China
through collaboration among the
various Johns Hopkins schools and
academic programs. —Emily Kessler
2011–2012 69