clair065

Sean Linkletter is a senior analyst at JLL, an American commercial real estate firm, in Shanghai. He graduated with a Certificate from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in 2015.   Let’s start by having you talk a bit about yourself.  I spent my youth in Santa Cruz, California and then studied finance and Chinese at the University of South Carolina. I had always had a fascination with the Chinese language and culture, as I grew up in California near large Chinese communities. I decided to study Chinese to satisfy the language requirement in college and did a program at Tsinghua University in Beijing my junior year. After graduating, I wanted to work in finance and real estate in the US – ideally for a REIT (real estate investment trust) but my work experience and limited industry connections did not put me in a strong position after school. Additionally, Chinese investment in the US real estate market was quite limited at the time, so it would have been hard to utilize my language ski...

Student blogger Emily Rivera shares the HNC experience of her Chinese roommate:肖玲. 肖玲 describes her reasons for choosing the HNC, her thoughts on how HNC student groups and courses compare to Chinese universities, and her memories of her very first day at the HNC. A very unique aspect of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center is the majority of international students and Chinese students get paired to live together as roommates. When I was completing a Chinese language intensive program in Beijing, I lived with an international student in an international student dorm, which is the norm for many study abroad programs in China. The focus of the HNC, however, is not only the improvement of your language skills while taking graduate level courses – the HNC places a large focus on cultural exchange as well. The HNC’s intercultural community, which stood apart to me from other graduate programs, is one of the reasons I chose to apply. At the HNC the goal is to pair students with roommates who share ...

Student blogger, Alexandra Hansen, features 10 ways that HNC students like to spend their weekends. We hope that through this post you will be able to better understand the HNC’s tight-knit community and culture. 大家好！ Happy Holidays! It’s been a busy time of year at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. January has brought with it many assignments, presentations, and guest lectures. Nonetheless, HNC students are still finding ways to relax and have fun. With this in mind, here are the Top 10 things HNC students do on the weekends in order to rest and unwind. Number 1: Explore Xuanwu Lake, the surrounding Nanjing wall and Jiming Temple This is only a 15-minute walk off-campus! Number 2: Volunteer at a local elementary school  Some students choose to volunteer every Friday evening and teach English at a local school.  Number 3: Hang out with your roommate HNC roommate pairs are a great way for students to deepen their cultural exchange experience.  Number 4: Take a hike around Purpl...

In late November, twenty students from Washington, Bologna, and Nanjing participated on the SAIS Energy Tour of China study trip. The purpose of the trip was to allow students to study the energy transition currently underway in China and was conducted with the support of the China-US Exchange Foundation. The themes of the trip were energy governance, renewable technology innovation, commercialization of renewables and new energy storage, and consumption and end-use efficiency. The students visited three Chinese cities, Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai, and explored a different theme in each. Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC) Professor Roger Raufer and Johns Hopkins SAIS Professor Rui Wang led the group, which included eight students from the HNC, ten students from D.C., and two students from Bologna, Italy.   The whole group enjoying a blustery winter day at the Ming Tombs Our trip started in Beijing, the political center of China, and our meetings focused on energy governance. On the fi...

Student blogger Emily Rivera, HNC Certificate ’18, writes about the HNC basketball team’s win at their first game at the HNC basketball court. The HNC Basketball Team (中美中心的篮球队) Earlier this semester, students and faculty gathered around the HNC basketball court to support the basketball team at their very first home game. Sitting on the sidelines, enthusiastic HNC fans filled the court with “加油” and “中美中心.” Although the winter weather had everyone bundled up in their scarves and hoodies, fans still sat happily on the sidelines sharing food and thoughts on the game with their neighbors. The HNC basketball team is another way for students to become involved on campus and to exchange cultures and language outside of the everyday classroom. Student-run groups and teams make up the bulk of student extracurricular activities. Other activities at the HNC include Tai Chi, Calligraphy, Ping-Pong, Yoga, China-Africa Interest Group, Philosophy Discussion Group, and a language partner group, amon...

This Wednesday, student blogger, Alexandra Hansen, features the holiday season at the HNC through pictures.   Photos by Alexandra Hansen, Certificate '18

Student blogger, Alexandra Hansen, shares the highlights from the HNC holiday season. This year students took part in a series of activities including Hanukkah celebrations, cookie decorating and Secret Santa.  Santa came to the HNC to pass out Secret Santa gifts The Hopkins-Nanjing Center was filled with holiday cheer this December! In order to celebrate the season, international students and Chinese students alike took part in festive activities around the HNC. Ben Miles (MAIS ’19) kicked off Hanukkah celebrations on December 12th. That evening, he hosted a candle lighting ceremony, during which he told the story of Hanukkah and invited students to eat latkes and play dreidel. On the eighth and final night of Hanukkah, students feasted on cream-filled doughnuts (jelly-filled ones were hard to find), and watched as the last candle was lit. Certificate student Kelsey Hamilton (’18) initiated the “5 Nights of Christmas” movie event, in which she hosted a series of Christmas films ov...