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Building Bridges with Brownies: A Visit to the Furnace City of Nanjing


Nanjing is known as one of the three “furnace cities” in China, due to the hot and humid temperatures and boy, were we cookin’! We began with a quick metro ride to the Nanjing City Wall where we were greeted and guided by John Urban, the American Academic Coordinator from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies (HNC) and three HNC students. We were also joined by several Chinese journalists who interviewed us about our experience in Nanjing. You can read these articles here and here. I recommend watching the short video at the end of article #2.

Although a sweltering 95 degrees, we oohed and ahhed over the panoramic views and bricks, dating

back to the 1300s, stamped with brickmakers’ names.

Our walk across the wall led us to Jiming Temple, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Nanjing. Our tour guide, an energetic Buddhist nun, introduced us to wishing ornaments and organized a delicious, vegetarian lunch served on-site.

After lunch, we boarded the metro again to visit HNC. Dr. David Davies, Co-Director (his counterpart is an administrator from Nanjing University), provided an overview of their programs: a One Year Certificate in Graduate Studies and a two-year Master of Arts in International Affairs. Most notably, David stressed that neither program is for language study. American/international students must have advanced Chinese proficiency and Chinese students must have advanced English proficiency.

Both will take classes and write their theses in their target languages.

Next, we met Dr. Stephen Halsey from the University of Miami, a current Fulbright Senior Scholar in Nanjing and a former Fulbright-Hays Scholar. He described bureaucratic hurdles he has encountered in China, including most recently when Nanjing University listed him as a Fulbright U.S. Student instead of a Senior Scholar. Another example of an in-country challenge occurred when Stephen’s colleague was denied access to certain archives. Instead of giving up, the Fulbrighter baked brownies for the guards. A few weeks later, he was granted access to previously restricted documents. In both situations, Stephen emphasized the importance of flexibility and resilience.

In preparation for his Fulbright applications, Stephen received funding from his institution to run “pilot projects” of his proposed research the summer before the start of his Fulbright grants. This allowed him to detail his exact needs in his proposal essay, including catalog numbers.

Next, Ben Lee (University of Washington, Class of 2015,) provided his perspective as a Fulbright Research Award grantee. Ben had travelled to China prior to his Fulbright as a Boren Scholar and he had additional policy experience as a 2016 Gaither Junior Fellow, focusing on China Studies. He also received assistance with his Statement of Grant Purpose (SOGP) from the Carnegie Senior Associate he served under.

Ben also shared that other Fulbright recent grads sometimes feel isolated and lonely in China, since much of their research is done independently and scattered across China. While he likes the structureless environment of his research, he said it can be difficult for others.

For NAFAns unfamiliar with Fulbright awards to China, there is no Fulbright Commission in-country and SOGPs must be approved by the China Scholarship Council, managed by the Chinese Ministry of Education. On the Scholar side, this occurs after CIES conditionally awards the grant to the faculty member, and on the student side, this occurs after the National Screening Committee selects the Semi-Finalists. Both Stephen and Ben received detailed instructions on how to submit paperwork summarizing their proposed projects, in a way that the Chinese government would approve.

Tonight, a cold (second) shower and dinner are on the agenda. Tomorrow, we continue our visit to HNC to learn more about fellowships and funding options that support their programs.

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