Drawing from 40 countries and more than 80 universities, the selection of the second cohort of Yenching Scholars has concluded: 127 outstanding graduates from around the globe will enroll in the Academy’s interdisciplinary master’s program in China Studies in September 2016. The cohort counts 21 students from mainland China, one from Taiwan, and 106 from 39 different countries.
Selected from a pool of outstanding candidates, the 128 Yenching Scholars will enroll in six different concentrations in order to pursue their academic and professional interests. Alessio Wei Chen (Italy, London School of Economics),is an Italian national of Chinese descent who has the great ambition to work in the Italian foreign service and represent the EU interests in China. Fluent in six languages, he was previously involved in promoting Sino-Italian cultural dialogue between young Italians and Chinese. While at the Yenching Academy, Danit Gal (Israel, University of Oxford) plans to explore the diffusion of technological innovation in a hyperconnected China. During her time at Oxford, she co-authored a UNESCO study on countering online hate speech and organized the annual Peking-Oxford-Stanford Internet law and policy conference. Harriet Kariuki (Kenya, Harvard University) will be graduating from Harvard with a degree in Government and East Asian Studies. She has interned with the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs' China Desk and conducted comparative research on Japanese and Chinese foreign aid in East Africa.Ravi Prasad (United Kingdom, University of Cambridge) is a British national with Indian heritage. During his time at Cambridge, Ravi organised conferences on the subjects of International Relations and Economic Development; the latter facilitating the first meeting between H.E Liu Xiaoming and H.E Ranjan Mathai (Chinese and Indian Ambassadors to the UK). In 2012, Ravi was announced as one of three top Young Economists by the Royal Economic Society. Hannah Feldshuh (United States, University of Michigan) graduated Phi Beta Kappa in April 2016 in Asian Language and Cultures and International Studies. Previously Hannah has interned at the US Trade Representative China desk and at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Simon Chair in Political Economy. In summer 2016, she served as a Critical Language Scholar in Suzhou, China. Finally, Chen Zhuang (China, Peking University) is graduating with a dual degree in Economics at the National School of Development of Peking University. At the Yenching Academy he hopes to deepen his understanding of the issues around the Sino-Korea trade and to gain more cross-cultural skills.
To read about all the 2016 Yenching Scholars visit:http://yenchingacademy.org/2016scholars
