Faculty Fellow:

• Gerald Fuller - Professor, School of Engineering, Chemical Engineering, July-August, 2019

Pre-Doctoral Fellows:

• Yunxin Li - History, August – September, 2019
• Kyueun Lee – Medicine/Health Research and Policy, July – September, 2019
• Jaemin Jee – Political Science, March 2019 – March 2020
• Robert Xu - Linguistics, March – April, 2019

Graduate Seminars:

Title: " Chinese Corporations:  A Case Study Workshop "

• Dates: June 17-July 5, 2019
• Instructor: Andrew Walder, Professor of Sociology and FSI Senior Fellow
• Eligibility: Enrolled Stanford University students in good academic standing
• Stanford student application deadline: April 15, 2019
• Read more and apply here

 Title: " Rheology of Complex Liquids"

• Dates: July 15- August 2, 2019
• Instructor: Gerald Fuller, Professor of Chemical Engineering, the School of Engineering
• Eligibility:  Enrolled Stanford University students in good academic standing (class is full)
• Read more here

It was a different Friday’s evening - as I traveled 20km in busy traffic from Beijing’s CBD area (Chaoyang) to its Silicon Valley (Zhongguancun). This time I did not come for any business dinner rather I came for the start of Stanford Ignite program, a mini-MBA for entrepreneurs, at Peking University (PKU).

As I walked from PKU's entrance to Stanford Center where the program was held, the city noise gradually diminished and stunning views began to appear - a peaceful lake alongside with many trees and a pagoda. Somehow, they reinforced each other to create a "Zen" atmosphere. 

SCPKU sits deep inside the campus.  It was an architectural masterpiece mixing with Chinese and Western styles.  Simply by staying there,  I could easily feel inspired. It was full of state-of-the-art facilities, especially its immersive tele-conferencing technologies.

Having a group of 40 entrepreneurial people in the same room guaranteed that there would be a great amount of energy. However, what intrigued me from the first day was the enormous interests and energy coming from the other side of the world - Stanford GSB faculty. Though we saw each other only through two big screens, it did not stop the continual interactions between both sides, thanks to the state-of-the-art facility. There was constant exchange of opinions, and the lectures were very engaging.

Great lecturers made learning effortless. From one lecture to another, block by block, I found myself easily forming a business-centered framework. Many credits to the GSB faculty - they told stories and jokes; played music and waved hands; smiled and laughed. It turned out that those memorable moments effectively glued the hard pieces of knowledge together into something solid. It was indeed a very enjoyable and satisfying learning experience.

In addition to the lectures, a large part of the program was the team venture project where five people worked on a venture idea together and pitched it to real investors at the end of the program. I learned a tremendous amount from this experience. Having five strangers from diffrent backgrounds coming together to suddenly work on a new project with tight deadlines was a huge challenge. These challenges also meant great opportunities to learn. The program set up weekly milestones for each team to reach.  Those milestones were essentially project breakdowns that we could adopt to our own ventures. Weekly team check-ins and assigned mentors provided us feedback on areas we could improve and work on.  As a team, we have achieved so much from the beginning to the end.  Despite all the other excellent teams, we, in the end, won first place backed up by GSR venture!

Before I joined the Ignite Program, I was a full-time, solo entrepreneur. I brought my venture idea to the Ignite in hope of finding potential business partners, polishing my venture idea, and pitching it to potential VCs. With the exception of finding a business partner, I have achieved all of my targets. I would definitely recommend Ignite to other who are similarly interested around me.

Ignite Program has taught me a great deal (about business, teamwork etc.). Nevertheless, I think the core of Ignite is its people. When I close my eyes, what I remember are energetic lecturers, friendly classmates, always-smiling facilitators, inspiring speakers, and lovely team members. I can share all I learned to others around me, but they can’t get the rich experience that I have unless they join the program by themselves.  Welcome to the Ignite family.

About the author:  Zilong Wang is founder and CEO of Liblux Technology, a company that develops "interactive video" based social application for generation Z.  He obtained PhD (Optoelectronics) and BEng (Electronics Engineering) from University of Southampton, UK.

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On November 22, Dr. Delphine Red Shirt lectured on “The History of Native Americans” at the Stanford Center at Peking University.

The lecture started with George Sword and described the “colonizing process” from a free life to one of constant negotiation with the federal government and the pressures on the Native Americans to give up their way of life, but most importantly their land.  She also talked about his wife who still despite pressure to "colonize", in the photograph maintained her long hair (in two long neat braids) and traditional attitude in the way she dressed.  This is important because women are the "culture keepers" who often teach language to children and maintain the traditional ways.

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The photographs included “Chief” Red Shirt, her ancestor whom her grandfather is descended from.  A leader for Chief Red Cloud, he was often recognized as a "chief" by the federal government but in reality he was a military/police officer who served at the right hand of one of our greatest chiefs.   Her maternal grandfather, Standing Buffalo, whom Kevin Costner in his film, "Dances with Wolves" depicted our culture with great reverence.  In the museum Costner established in Deadwood, South Dakota (in the heart of our homelands, the Black Hills), Costner displayed Standing Buffalo in the entry way.  Standing Buffalo is the "Kaka (children's word for grandfather)" in her first book, Bead on an Anthill:  A Lakota Childhood" which was also translated and available in Mandarin.  Her second book, Turtle Lung Woman's Granddaughter is about Standing Buffalo's daughter, her mother; the second book is also translated into Mandarin.

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The photographs ended with the Wounded Knee massacre (often called a "battle" in American History) showing the killing site, the loading of the bodies, and the mass grave that was dug for the over 146 men, women, and children killed by the 7th Cavalry.  In history, our people, the Lakota had defeated this same cavalry at what is called "The Battle of the Little Big Horn" or "Custer's Last Stand".

The talk ended with the early 1970 "Occupation of Wounded Knee" by the American Indian Movement (AIM).  The two events reflect:  one a "killing of a dream" as Black Elk, one of our spiritual leaders who witnessed the aftermath called the massacre.  And the occupation of young Native Americans in February of 1973 when they symbolically took a stand against oppression.  A map showing the Occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco during the 1960's.  The beginning of an era that coincided with the American Civil Rights era.  The last events reflected the fact that we are still here.

One question by the non-Chinese student from Minnesota had to do with renaming parks in Minneapolis to reflect the Native Americans who still live in the city.  Another had to do with voting rights for Native Americans in the U.S.  The answers to both questions affirmed the "renaming" as Stanford this fall (2018) decided, with insistence from Native American students, that Juniper Serra be renamed on campus (road could not be as it is a county road) but the Serra Mall will be renamed to Jane Stanford Mall.  With regard to voting rights, in her home state of South Dakota the voters are very young.  The majority of the population on the Indian Reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota is close to the age of 18.  These young voters have elected the youngest (2nd youngest) tribal president at Pine Ridge (age 31).  They have also elected two state representatives in South Dakota.  Nationally we have two women representatives going to the House of Representatives this year (Democrats).

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As Stanford’s fall quarter draws to a close, the first cohort of students who are participating in Freeman Spogli Institute’s (FSI) inaugural overseas program in Beijing embarked on their final field excursion. The 8 students and 4 Stanford faculty traveled first to Jinan city (济南) (capital of Shandong province), then to Zouping county (邹平), both located in China’s eastern region of Shandong (山东).

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Stanford China Studies in Beijing students and faculty being greeted by their hosts in Jinan, Shandong

Three Stanford Master’s in International Policy students and 5 undergraduate students are participating in this pilot program in Beijing at the Stanford Center at Peking University (SCPKU). The pilot program is being offered by FSl in cooperation with Peking University. Details regarding student activities, reflections and earlier travels can be found here.

This third and final trip was significant not only for the wide-ranging sites that the students saw, but also because Zouping County has a storied connection to the wider community of China scholars in the U.S. and to Stanford. Zouping county was the first rural site in China where foreign scholars were given official access to conduct field research in the 1980’s after Deng Xiaoping’s Opening and Reform in 1978. The late Professor Michel Oksenberg (1938-2001), senior fellow at Shorenstein APARC and FSl, who also served as a key member of the U.S. National Security Council under President Jimmy Carter, spearheaded this effort, which brought over eighty U.S. academics to the area between 1984 and 1991 (For more details re. that history, please see here).

The students’ field trip included visits with those at the top of the official pyramid to the village grassroots, including meetings with the Mayor and Vice Mayor of Jinan (pop: 6.8 million) and City Planning officials there; plus local city officials in Zouping County. Students and faculty viewed urban plans for the Jinan International Medical and Science Center and toured the corporate conglomerate, Shandong Weiqiao Pioneer Group (山东魏橋创业集团有限公司) that owns the largest textile factory in the world; and Xiwang Group, Ltd. (西王集团有限公司) whose main lines of business are corn oil production and structural steel. In some ways, the site visits reminded one of China’s economic rise as the manufacturing hub of the world; and its beckoning future as a science and technology giant.

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China Studies in Beijing students and faculty viewing plans for the Jinan International Medical and Science Center

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(From left to right): Students -- Drew Hasson (MIP second year student); Lucas Hornsby (sophomore); Isaac Kipust (junior); Jenn Hu (sophomore); and Cathy Dao (sophomore) – and Stanford faculty meeting with Mayor and Vice Mayor of Jinan city

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(From front, left to back, right): Profs. Jean Oi, Andrew Walder, Scott Rozelle, Tom Fingar stop by at the company store inside Xiwang Group

A highlight of the trip also included the village of Wangjing, Linchi Township, also in Zouping County. Surrounded by village children, mixing with residents and exchanging high-fives with “the kids [and] the grandmothers, ” Stanford students got a chance to enter ordinary homes and see what village life is like in one (albeit affluent and well-developed) township of Linchi.

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Professor Scott Rozelle, joined by Isaac Kipust, Lucas Hornsy and Prof. Tom Fingar, engage with village residents of Wangjing

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Drew Hasson exchanging high-fives with the residents of Wangjing village

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Students and faculty crowded into a village's home

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Isaac Kipust playing with the villager's son

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Three boys from Wangjing village with Isaac Kipust and Prof. Scott Rozelle

By the village square, Professor Scott Rozelle even took the opportunity to challenge two village boys to strive for not only a college degree, but a graduate degree; and not just an M.A. but a Ph.D. – and not just at any university, but at Stanford University! One day, perhaps – who knows? – Stanford may find itself conferring a doctoral degree to a student who calls Wangjing village his home.

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What’s an M.A.? Not higher than a Ph.D.! Prof. Scott Rozelle in conversation with two village boys in the town square at Wangjing

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And the laughing continues . . .

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Scott Rozelle in conversation with the boys as Profs. Jean Oi and Andrew Walder look on

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All the students, faculty and residents of Wangjing village, Zouping county, gather for the final photo

Students have gone on three field trips during the course of this overseas program – an excursion to the Great Wall at Jinshanling and to Chengde, a “mountain resort” of the Qing Dynasty court; China’s Northeast region, including to the cities of Dalian, Dandong and Jinzhou (see report here); and, now, Shandong province to China’s east. In addition to these field trips, students have also had unparalleled access to speakers from China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which operates directly under China’s State Council; prominent venture capitalistsand start-up entrepreneurs; and executives from large Chinese multinationals. Students have also enjoyed visits to China’s Foreign Ministry for discussions with experts on U.S.-China relations; as well as to the U.S. Embassy, engaging in discussions with its staff on U.S.-China trade tensions and geopolitical relations.  Students have not only accessed the halls of power in China, however, but have also visited peri-urban migrant communities and schools for children of migrant workers.

The China Studies in Beijing Program lasts the length of an academic quarterat Stanford – i.e., a mere eleven weeks – and yet it provided diverse opportunities for students to explore multiple facets of this complex and kaleidoscopic nation – from officialdom to ordinary villages; Beijing’s high-tech entrepreneurs to migrant children; international relations experts to corporate executives at China’s MNCs. Even while taking intensive courses taught by leading Stanford scholars on China’s economy, society, international relations and politics, students also enjoyed weekly brown-bag seminars led by guest speakers who spoke on the current state of U.S.-China relations; China-North Korea trade; U.S.-China military competition; China’s growing middle class; and the country’s severe urban-rural divide.

Pending final university approval, the application page for China Studies in Beijing’s Fall 2019 program will open soon. Please stay tuned for more information here or email Patrick Laboon, FSI’s Academic Program Manager, at plaboon@stanford.edu for updates. We anticipate the due date for candidate statement of interest and application to be set for the end of January.

A group of 8 Stanford graduate and undergraduate students entered the gates of SCPKU on September 21st. They are participating in the inaugural fall quarter of China Studies in Beijing, an overseas, pilot program being offered by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies in partnership with Peking University. Jay Gonzalez, a Stanford junior, already described his experience as “life-changing” – “exactly what I dreamed of and more.”

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(From left to right): Lucas Hornsby (sophomore), Jenny Zhao (SCPKU’s Beijing program coordinator), Isaac Kipust (junior), Cathy Dao (sophomore), Minhchau Dinh (second year, Master’s in International Policy), Jenn Hu (sophomore), and Jay Gonzalez (junior) walking towards SCPKU for China Studies in Beijing orientation

Leading faculty from different Stanford departments and two Peking University faculty are offering intensive courses on contemporary Chinese society, politics, international relations and economic development. And each of the students brought their energy, curiosity and long-standing interest in China to the fall program. With an array of exposure to China – from one whose Chinese begins and ends with “ni hao (hello)” to another who calls China his adoptive home -- their interests vary from a passionate interest in the Belt Road Initiative; China-Africa relations; geopolitics; technology and Chinese entrepreneurs; Chinese domestic politics; and, literally, “anything China.” Many recognize China’s central role in the world and the critical importance of acquiring a nuanced understanding of this global power.

(Clockwise, from left to right): Isaac Kipust, Jay Gonzalez, Prof. Andrew Walder, Lucas Hornsby, Prof. Thomas Fingar, Josh Cheng (Executive Director, SCPKU), Jenny Zhao, Prof. Jean Oi, Jenn Hu, Cathy Dao, and Minchau Dinh

(Clockwise, from left to right): Isaac Kipust, Jay Gonzalez, Prof. Andrew Walder, Lucas Hornsby, Prof. Thomas Fingar, Josh Cheng (Executive Director, SCPKU), Jenny Zhao, Prof. Jean Oi, Jenn Hu, Cathy Dao, and Minchau Dinh

Each of the Stanford faculty teaching in the overseas program has dedicated his or her professional life to engaging with and understanding China. These students have unparalleled access to foremost China experts like Prof. Thomas Fingar, Shorenstein APARC Fellow and former chairman of the National Intelligence Council who has devoted himself to U.S.-China relations since the “ping-pong diplomacy” days in the early 1970’s. Prof. Jean Oi, the founding Lee Shau Kee Director of SCPKU and the William Haas Professor in Chinese Politics in the department of political science; and Prof. Andrew Walder, Denise O’Leary & Kent Thiry Professor in the Department of Sociology, were among the first group of U.S. scholars to conduct fieldwork in China after Deng Xiaoping’s Open Door policy was announced in 1978. Prof. Scott Rozell, Senior Fellow at FSI and Co-director of the Rural Education Action Program is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including in 2008 of the Friendship Award, the highest award given to a non-Chinese by China’s Premier.

(Clockwise, from left to right): Prof. Thomas Fingar, Isaac Kipust, Prof. Scott Rozelle, Prof. Andrew Walder, Jennifer Choo (Associate Director, Stanford China Program), Lucas Hornsby, Drew Hasson (second year, Master’s in International Policy), Jenn Hu, and Prof. Jean Oi on the Yalu River looking over at North Korea.

(Clockwise, from left to right): Prof. Thomas Fingar, Isaac Kipust, Prof. Scott Rozelle, Prof. Andrew Walder, Jennifer Choo (Associate Director, Stanford China Program), Lucas Hornsby, Drew Hasson (second year, Master’s in International Policy), Jenn Hu, and Prof. Jean Oi on the Yalu River looking over at North Korea

The program is simultaneously exposing students to China’s contemporary politics, society and economy in the classrooms and pairing them with lived experiences -- through real-life conversations with PKU professors and PKU classmates; ordinary citizens of Beijing; and through visits to diverse parts of China. To date, the group has traveled to historic Chengde (承德); a mining equipment factory in Jinzhou city (锦州); the China-North Korean border in Dandong (丹东); and the strategic port city of Dalian (大连). Each of these areas embed layers of history and reveal artifacts from different eras: the Manchus who ruled the Han Chinese during the Qing Dynasty (Chengde); the SOE restructuring in the 1990’s that devastated China’s Northeastern “rust belt” (Jinzhou); massive human casualty suffered by the Chinese during the Korean War (Dandong); and the Sino-Russo-Japanese tug-of-war that marked Dalian’s fate throughout the 19^th and 20^th century. Through these experiences, students are gaining insights into how the world might look to their counterparts in China and elsewhere.

Below are pictures and reflections from students’ own experiences at Jinshanling (金山岭) Great Wall, Chengde as well as in China’s Northeast (东北) region.

Jinshangling (金山岭) Great Wall

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Jenn Hu and Minchau Dinh (holding up the Stanford banner) at the Great Wall

Chengde City (承德市)

The city of Chengde in Hebei Province, located 155 miles northeast of Beijing, was an imperial summer resort during the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Kang Xi (1662-1723) discovered this rare scenic spot during a hunting trip and turned it into a “Mountain Resort.”

As one student noted, these field trips “supplement academic discussions with . . . diverse representations of China – from historical kingdom to innovation contender (Cathy Dao, Stanford sophomore).”

Prof. Jean Oi and Isaac Kipust engaged in discussion at the imperial summer resort of Chengde

Prof. Jean Oi and Isaac Kipust engaged in discussion at the imperial summer resort of Chengde

China’s Northeast region (东北)

Jinzhou City (锦州市), Liaoning Province

Jinzhou Mining Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd

Faculty and students enter the factory at Jinzhou Mining Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd. with the company’s senior managers

Faculty and students enter the factory at Jinzhou Mining Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd. with the company’s senior managers

Stanford students and faculty toured a mining equipment factory in Jinzhou city in Northeast China. Massive worker lay-offs and closures of state-owned enterprises devastated this “rust belt” region throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s. The company’s senior management sat with students and faculty and described its current reincarnation as a private shareholding company. They also opened up about their difficulties in attracting talent; local tax rates and land use fees; and their inability to enforce contracts and redress payment defaults.

As Jenn Hu (Stanford sophomore) remarked, “One thing I found particularly fascinating [was that]. . . it was not unusual for [the company’s] clients to bail on contractual obligations . . . . [T]he company allowed their client to pay them back in the form of raw materials, essentially engaging in barter trade . . . The fact that an increasing number of clients are unable to pay back, a trend party leaders have dubbed the ‘new normal,’ is also indicative of China’s slowing growth.”

Jay Gonzalez and Jenny Zhao pose in front of a giant painting of “model workers” at Jinzhou Mining Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd.

Jay Gonzalez and Jenny Zhao pose in front of a giant painting of “model workers” at Jinzhou Mining Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd

Dandong City (丹东市)

War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea Railroad Museum (铁路抗美援朝博物馆)

Group photo in front of the old railroad tracks in Dandong, Liaoning province, that helped transport Chinese troops into North Korea during the Korean War

Group photo in front of the old railroad tracks in Dandong, Liaoning province, that helped transport Chinese troops into North Korea during the Korean War

Jenn Hu reading the captions at the “War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea” Railroad Museum

Jenn Hu reading the captions at the “War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea” Railroad Museum

Dandong’s small “railroad museum” displayed images, quotes and photos from the Korean War – better known as “War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea” in China. Nearly 3 million People’s Liberation Army troops overwhelmed the U.S. troops and allies in 1950; and China tragically lost anywhere from 149,000 to 400,000 soldiers in the war.

Students heard the Chinese perspective on the war, which focused on U.S. aggression and China’s rightful defense. The museum’s guided tour, in fact, ended with an anti-American sing-along that praised China’s bravery and denounced U.S. imperialism. As one student commented on her blog, “[f]rom the ends of the room, [the museum’s visitors’] voices rose in unison, and swelled into a chorus of song -- 抗美援朝鲜，打败美帝野心狼! (‘Resist America, help Korea, defeat the American imperialists with their wolf-like ambitions!’) (Cathy Dao, Stanford sophomore),” giving substance to the reality that history is, indeed, political.

Prof. Scott Rozelle, Senior Fellow at FSI and faculty member for China Studies in Beijing, engaged in a heated debate with the local guide from Dandong who argued that North Korea’s decision to start the Korean War was to defend its motherland against U.S. military aggression.

Prof. Scott Rozelle, Senior Fellow at FSI and faculty member for China Studies in Beijing, engaged in a heated debate with the local guide from Dandong who argued that North Korea’s decision to start the Korean War was to defend its motherland against U.S. military aggression

Sino-North Korean Friendship Bridge that links Shinuiju, North Korea, to Dandong, China.

Sino-North Korean Friendship Bridge that links Shinuiju, North Korea, to Dandong, China

Dalian (大连)

Lastly, students traveled to Dalian, the “pearl of the East” founded by the Russians in 1898 and built in the style of European cities at the turn-of-the-century. The site of intense battles during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, the city now boasts a Sino-Soviet Friendship Monument built in 1996.

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Group photo in front of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Monument in Dalian city

Whether it be “[t]he sheer size of a small city like Jinzhou”(pop: 3.1 million) or the “‘little’ city” of Dalian (pop: 6.2 million), these cities drove home for students the sheer scale of a country like China – its significance, complexity, and import.

Students have written blog pieces posted on FSI’s Medium site in which one student also described a fascinating solo backpacking trip to Tibetan communities in western Sichuan and, another, the quotidian challenges of everyday life in Beijing. Regardless of their subject matter, however, their words echo the program’s success in enabling students to perceive the world through vastly differing lenses – lenses that often show a place and people that are deeply warm and welcoming and, at other times, reflect a world that proves decentering and unclear. Yet, the complementary experiences in the classroom and outside the curriculum are enabling students to develop an imagination that can encompass the “other” and nurture a humility that can feed a lifetime of questions. As Cathy Dao commented upon visiting the “War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea” Railroad Museum, “I realized that such hostility is a function of history. How each country portrays conflicts [such as the Korean War] strongly influences the perceptions that its people have. [But] [s]hould we learn how one another views history, we can see the humanity in what would otherwise be an abstract and incompatible ‘other.’”

(Counter clockwise): Julie Gu (second year, Masters in International Policy), Pan Xue (Beijing program assistant), Jenny Zhao, and Lucas Hornsby taking a group selfie in Dalian city

(Counter clockwise): Julie Gu (second year, Masters in International Policy), Pan Xue (Beijing program assistant), Jenny Zhao, and Lucas Hornsby taking a group selfie in Dalian city

For information regarding similar opportunities, please visit FSI Student Programs or email Patrick Laboon, FSI’s Academic Program Manager, at plaboon@stanford.edu for all updates regarding the many international student opportunities offered through FSI.

A matrix with m rows and n columns looks like a rectangle filled with tiny boxes: m times n boxes, to be exact. But after visiting the Stanford Center at Peking University (SCPKU) for three months, my mental matrix of the world looked more like a weird trapezoid. New acquaintances added rows and their unique perspectives added columns. My brain drew lines from geography to economics to politics, but the lines were on crumpled paper. Ah and don't forget history. So multiply the rectangle by time t and out comes a 3D trapezoid.

How do we mentally travel through odd shapes with any sense and efficiency? China Studies in Beijing classes at the SCPKU sharpened our tools for the endeavor. On day one, Thomas Fingar emphasized that the goal of a foreign policy class is not to remember a list of facts, but to build a personal matrix of relations and to learn tricks for traversing the matrix. Jean Oi demonstrated how people's ideals can constrain the goals of business and political leaders. Scott Rozelle showed how economic developments in China changed real lives. Clarity reduces the dimensions we care about. Sometimes we need to melt and reshape the whole matrix. Other times we just need to prune a few rows and columns. We have the algorithms, technologies, "intelligences." Our tools, both natural and artificial, can be useful for navigating political spheres and leading to action.

But tools are not all we have. Other people's matrices sometimes slam into our own. Warping it, filling it. At Peking University (PKU), I met students with different stories and missions. One student transfers industrial expertise from China to Southeast Asia. Another connects Stanford and PKU students to openly discuss US-China relations. I also collaborated with PKU researchers. The scientists are fast learners and deeply curious. The clinicians are hard working and harder feeling. They all faithfully give their time and spirit. Despite the different bases of our matrices, language in particular, we could cooperate and together build a fuller model of the world.

What was the visiting graduate student's place in all of this? As a psychologist, I study humans and their brains. The brain itself is a messy matrix. Figuratively, a life history of data to curate; literally, cells that code spacetime. Maybe the psychology and geometry of every other brain is not so foreign from each of our own. Our science can keep digging deeper and tilling truer in search of common ground. We can build an empirical basis for humans to flourish together.

Sometimes, after long times, a complex matrix can instead be depicted as a fractal. Like flakes of snow. Each one is unique, starting with the same properties of H₂O but morphing through many phases. Maybe with study and reflection we will look back at both China studies and brain studies and, rather than see a messy matrix, find a fractal. Hopefully such a model can also be useful to guide our way forward.

About the author Josiah Leong: Awarded a SCPKU Predoctoral fellowship for research from August to November 2018. He is a doctoral candidate in psychology and his research is about how brain creates emotions and makes decisions. During his visit, he started a neuroimaging study with the Peking psychology department and taught neuroimaging data analyses to addiction researchers at the Peking Sixth Hospital. He also engaged with researchers in anthropology, history, and political science, and he audited courses from the China Studies in Beijing overseas program. These experiences clarified his vision for how psychological science can guide the policies that govern everyday life. He has seen how scientific collaboration builds communities across borders, and he remains optimistic that the practice of science can lead people to question their assumptions and reshape their matrices, so to speak.