The Yenching Academy of Peking University today introduces its third cohort: 124 outstanding young scholars who will enroll in the interdisciplinary Master’s in China Studies program this September. The scholars hail from 44 countries and regions; 22 Mainland Chinese scholars will come together with 98 international students and two students each from Hong Kong and Taiwan. They will examine China’s past, present and future, with particular emphasis on China’s development and role in the world. The incoming scholars have attended 97 universities, the most represented being Peking University, with eight students; the University of Cambridge, with seven students; and Harvard University, with five students.
Ankur Shah (UK, University of Edinburgh) graduated with a first-class degree in Chinese and Russian Studies. He has studied in both Sichuan and St Petersburg, and worked on the Trans-Siberian Express from Moscow to Vladivostok, as well as the Silk Road Online Platform at the UNESCO's headquarters in Paris. This inspired him to partake in his ongoing 20,000 km Silk Road expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society, driving from Venice to Xi'an. Ankur intends to study the Sino-Russian Strategic Partnership while at Yenching Academy.
Audrey Shi (USA, Harvard University) studied English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford before arriving at Harvard. She has worked as a journalist for CNN Beijing, The Southern Weekend, and Fortune Magazine, and has researched epistolary networks between American and Chinese women during the Second Sino-Japanese War. As a Yenching Scholar, Audrey looks forward to creating short films that capture underexplored aspects of modern Chinese life.
Guan Hongyu (Mainland China, Peking University) will graduate in 2017 with a degree in finance. He is President of Global View Initiative, the biggest Sino-U.S. communication program on the PKU campus. Hongyu has interned with China International Capital Corporation Investment Banking Division, China Media Capital Partners and the Boston Consulting Group. At Yenching Academy, he will investigate methods of linking the Chinese and international capital markets.
Asma Bachikh (Morocco, Ibn Zohr University) originally from Morocco, holds a Master’s degree in International Commerce and is an alumna of the Global Business Institute at Indiana University. Asma’s passion for entrepreneurship and the environment inspired her to drive many projects and initiatives in France, Malaysia and Morocco, for which she has received recognition. In April 2015 Asma was elected as President of the World Youth Parliament, which advocates for youth participation in decision making in the water sector. Asma has worked in international organisations across a variety of sectors, from developing quality education in Sub-Saharan Africa to freedom of speech and media in the MENA region. However, Asma found her true passion in the water sector, and is currently a consultant for leading water institutions, focusing on developing their civic engagement, with a special focus on youth strategies. She also sits on the board of the International Secretariat for Water, and has an observer status as part of the Global Water Partnership's Steering Committee.
Manuen Sze (Hong Kong, China, University College London) studies Arts and Sciences with a focus on Cultures. She studied at Sciences Po Paris for one academic year, where she researched implications of the nascent Paris Agreement and wrote a thesis on climate justice that addressed climate change, globalization, and global citizenship. Manuen is particularly interested in ancient Chinese material culture, and has interned at the Shanghai Museum.
Oskar Galeev (Russia, Leiden University) majored in International and Middle Eastern Studies with a minor in Global Affairs. Oscar has worked as a research assistant at the Leiden Institute for Area Studies, conducting research on China’s economic cooperation with the “Global South,” in particular regarding the One Belt-One Road initiative. He plans to investigate modern Chinese philosophy and foreign policy doctrine at the Yenching Academy.
Angélica García Patiño (Mexico, National Autonomous University of Mexico) studied Communication Sciences with a specialization in Political Communication. She has worked on an award-winning campaign to enhance citizen education in the Mexico City Electoral Institute, and researched trade between Asia and Latin America and women’s financial issues in Latin America at the Institute of Economic Research in Mexico. Angélica hopes to work in the Mexican Foreign Service in the future.
Maria Jarosz (Poland, Jagiellonian University in Krakow) majored in Sinology and served as Vice President of Jagiellonian University Sinology Students Research Circle. Maria’s interest is in twentieth century Chinese literature, especially following the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art. Her bachelor’s dissertation focused on Zhao Shuli, a rural Chinese fiction writer. At the Yenching Academy, she plans to focus on literary translation.
The Yenching Academy of Peking University was established in 2014 with the goal of pushing study of China beyond the boundaries of traditionally defined Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines through a specially designed, English-taught Master’s program. Students from its first three cohorts hail from a total of 66 different countries and regions.
View introductions to all 124 incoming scholars here.
Contact:
Public Relations
Li Na
Head of Public Relations
ycalina@pku.edu.cn
Yenching Academy of Peking University
www.yenchingacademy.org
Academic Affairs
Guo Fei
Director of Academic Affairs
guofei@pku.edu.cn
Yenching Academy of Peking University
www.yenchingacademy.org
