Over the past eight months, how has the EAST Program evolved to address the current situation of COVID-19? Have there been any silver linings?

Chinese/EAST majors were recalled from their study abroad programs in China in late January. Our first task was to ensure upper-level Chinese classes could accommodate these students’ varied proficiency levels. Most of these students went on to take CET’s intensive summer courses virtually. In late summer, with support from the CIE, we organized two webinars—one on Hong Kong’s future and the other on China’s environmental issues—featuring Trinity’s own EAST experts. The webinar series, which will continue next spring, provides interdisciplinary perspectives on contemporary topics related to China. Sadly, several students awarded prestigious scholarship and job opportunities to study or work in the region had their offers rescinded due to the pandemic. Yet, EAST students remain active in pursuing immersion experiences and academic exchanges. This October, four students presented their papers at the virtual Southwest Conference on Asian Studies. In November, a student presented virtually at a conference organized by the University of London. Next spring, EAST will offer ChinesePod subscriptions for current and potential majors to support their language learning. We are also exploring virtual internship opportunities in East Asia. A new course on Asian Americans is also under development for the

fall of 2021.

Now, more than ever, classes should strive to be considerate of their students living all across the world. What techniques did you apply this semester to make your class inclusive to all students? What are some recommendations that you would like to extend to your faculty colleagues who are starting to think about their classes next semester? 

COVID has been disruptive but Zoom has made online collaboration easier. This semester, students in my Chinese Newspaper class worked with peers at DePauw University for a weekly chat-in-Chinese assignment. When face-to-face contact must be minimized, building virtual learners’ community becomes even more important. As a former international student, I can feel the daily struggles of our international students as they face challenges with time zones and access to course materials. Their academic and career plans have also been unprecedentedly threatened by shifting U.S. visa and employment policies as well as warranted concerns for the pandemic, xenophobism, and racism in the U.S. I hope my faculty colleagues understand that language and cultural barriers as well as these students’ high expectations for themselves may prevent them from reaching out for help. A caring email from a faculty member at the beginning

of the semester communicating that you are willing to work with them can relieve much of that burden. The Collaborative and the CIE have gathered a team to build toolsets to facilitate communication with international students. I urge my colleagues to study these carefully when making syllabi for the spring.

Your classes are known to attract a variety of different students from all majors and who have different levels of interest in and knowledge of Chinese culture. How do you make content that is foreign—to most students—feel so relevant?

Film is a great window onto different cultures and societies. Each student in my Chinese cinema classes brings their own distinctive personal and academic experiences to help enrich and deepen our understanding of the films. We study films as historical and cultural construction, with each student working with me individually to tackle one historically and culturally specific topic in the semester and delivering a presentation on it to the class. Using the presentation as guidance, the class then proceeds to analyze the thematic and aesthetic concerns of the specific directors and the politics of seeing embedded in specific aspects of the films. The films I choose can be quite demanding—both in terms of their lack of happy endings and their “opaque” or “slow” styles. Precisely because students invest much in interpreting these films, they gradually become memorable, relatable, and likable to them. I have never felt that I am teaching some challenging “foreign” content; instead, my focus is always the critical thinking skills that students can apply to the understanding of any visual and audio texts. I also believe that empathy, like critical thinking, can be nurtured and acquired over time. Since 2019, I have added a PhotoVoice project to my film classes to teach empathy skills. To me, the ability to patiently watch another human being’s story unfold and to understand its contexts is the most valuable way to reach and expand the understanding of oneself.  

As someone who truly exemplifies the scholar-teacher model of a Trinity professor, what are some ways in which you incorporate your interests in research into the classroom?

I chose to be a liberal arts professor because I see teaching and research mutually enhancing each other. My academic training that spans from premodern to contemporary Chinese culture and from literary texts to new media have prepared me to engage students in a variety of my own research projects. I have directed students’ research with the support of various sources of funding, such as Trinity’s own Mellon SURF. I also regularly guide students to explore their own research interest through presenting papers and posters at academic conferences. But my support for students to pursue research never intends to create a “mini me;” instead, I respect students’ diverse interests and support them through leading independent studies and allowing them to define their own research topics in my upper-level language and culture classes.