Mini-Grants Experiences: Global China Connection Conference

Ningjie Cao '16 presenting on the Diao Yu Island debate.

At the end of the day, our conference was successful not because of quality of our presentations or the relevance of our printouts, but because of the diversity of its participants and their unique insight into the issues at hand.

With the help of the Rockefeller Center, we were able to bring together nearly 50 delegates from four different colleges and universities for a weekend of high-level foreign affairs discussions and policy debates. Among those that came were students from three different nations and a wide-array of family backgrounds, all of whom possessed insights and perspectives that were unique to their personal experiences and fields of study.

Over the course of the day, we had friendly debates between first generation immigrants from mainland China and Taiwanese nationals. We had graduate students share unique understandings of East Asian policy based on years of research and study. And we also had Dartmouth students give firsthand accounts of the protests and demonstrations they witnessed while interning in Shanghai or travelling on the FSP.

From these interactions, it became clear that the conference did far more than just produce a few hours of interesting discussion; it brought together a diverse group of people with divergent connections to China and allowed them to share their perspectives in a mutually instructive way. From this experience, we all came away from the conference with a better understanding of East Asian affairs and the layers of nuance that surround today’s tensions.

It is the GCC’s hope that this new insight will serve its members well as they continue to pursue their respective interests in China academically and professionally in the years to come. 

- Written by Nicholas Desatnick '15

You can find out more about Mini-Grants here.