Yale-China Bridge 2022-23

Fellows' Impact in Education, Healthcare, and the Arts Collaborations that Bring Americans and Chinese Together Your Support Builds Bridges

As you read this issue of the Bridge, I hope you’ll see what stands out to me: impact.

• Our Fellows will teach 2,600 students in mainland China and Hong Kong this academic year.

• Our teachers in New Haven public schools will teach Chinese language and culture to 500 students in grades 2 and up.

• We will train 12 front-line nurses, who in turn will train their colleagues and care for patients in urban and rural, minority area hospitals in China.

• We will award 63 full and half-scholarships to Chinese medical students in financial need, bringing the total to 378 scholarships over the past 7 years.

• Sixteen undergraduates from Yale and New Asia College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong will work in teams on education and technology projects.

• We will bring a Hong Kong artist to Yale for six months and to present at the New Haven International Festival of Arts.

• 1,000+ people will enjoy our Chinese New Year parade on the streets of New Haven, at a time when Asian heritage should be celebrated, not hated.

Our impact is not just on our talented Fellows—who go on to be leaders and influencers in many fields—it is on the communities and individuals who these Fellows engage with during their fellowships…communities and individuals who may not otherwise have such opportunities without the Yale-China programs that you so generously support.

After more than 120 years, Yale-China continues to bridge the United States and China and positively impact lives. That is something that all of us in the Yale-China community can feel good about.

Mission

Yale-China (雅礼协会) bridges the United States and China through collaborative partnerships in education, healthcare, and the arts.

Vision

To be a leader in high-quality programs and exchanges that positively impact lives in the communities we serve in China, Hong Kong, and New Haven.

Yale-China Bridge 2022-2023, Issue 04 © 2022 Yale-China

STAFF

John Frisbie President

Andrew Junker Hong Kong Director

Betty Ho Senior Administrative Coordinator, Hong Kong Office

Emily Chew Deputy Director of Education and Arts Programs

Junya Zhu Director of Health Programs

Kate Rosenberg Program Officer

Leslie Stone Vice President and Director of Education Programs

Michelle Averitt Manager of Branding & Communications Rich Czekalski Director of Finance and Operations

VOLUNTEER & PART-TIME

Mark Sheldon Roving Ambassador Daniel Loebell Haiying Wang Hannah Yuan Chen Lucy Yang

AJ Chen & Chris Young Yali Society Leaders

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Drake Pike Chair

Alex Liebman Barry Wu Vice-Chairs

Nancy Chapman Secretary Gang Chen Treasurer TRUSTEES

Cui Fengming Jamie Horsley Evelyn Hsieh Mayching Kao Sheila Levrant de Bretteville Julius Mitchell Hana Omiya Robert Rohrbaugh Nathan Taft Jianyou Tan Ming Thompson Minh Tran Hong Wang Cindy Xue

04

Why We Serve

Three new trustees share their passion for Yale-China and how they plan to contribute

05

Mixing Innovation with Tradition

Fellows reflect on their past year in Changsha and Hong Kong

06-07 Inspiring Educational Leaders Fellowship alumni generate long-term impact in education 08-09

Expanding Healthcare Delivery Chia Fellows innovate, collaborate, and serve underserved communities 10-11

Fellows and Scholarships

Current Fellows, XYOAA medical school scholarship recipents, and Alumni Spotlight 12-13

Beyond the Arts Fellowship

Hong Kong artists spring into deeper artistic endeavors and career enhancement 14-15

Highlights

Gratitude for departing principals in China and New Haven community programs

This issue: Special thanks to Big Voice Communications Design by Michelle Averitt

BRIDGE | 2022-2023

ON THE COVER

Fellows explore Xidi village in Xiuning County Photograph by Gabi Scarpa, Xiuning '18-20

New Trustees: Why We Serve

Cui Fengming

Director of China Programs

Harvard Law School Project on Disability, Cambridge, MA

“The mission of Yale-China speaks deeply into my heart and strongly echoes the spirit of my life pursuit. I want to mingle my expertise, values and first-hand experience together with those of others in the community in caring and supportive ways to contribute to the fulfillment of its mission. I’m excited to bring big-picture thinking and strategic insight to this organization.”

Minh Ngan Tran

CUHK ‘11-13 and Community Service Exchange Intern ‘08 Vice President of Operations & Academic Affairs Good Notes, Hong Kong

“I’m deeply grateful to have the opportunity to serve on the Board because Yale-China has changed my life (and the lives of many others) in the best ways. I am of the full conviction that the world needs Yale-China more than ever! The on-theground, people-to-people relationships that Yale-China fosters between current and future leaders of these two world powers will go a long way to promoting peace and mutually beneficial collaborations. Currently as Vice President of Operations at GoodNotes, a beloved edtech company, I’m interested in exploring how digital innovation can support Yale-China’s work.”

Cindy Xue

Guizishan Fellow ‘17-18 and YUNA ‘15 Blakemore Freeman Fellow, Taipei, Taiwan

“To serve on the Yale-China board is to simultaneously steward a rich legacy of bilateral engagement through people-to-people exchanges and steer the organization forward against challenging socio-political currents. The fact that we have been able to send Yale teaching Fellows to mainland China after 2020, a feat few other nonprofits have achieved, speaks volumes to the depth of relationships Yale-China has cultivated over the decades, as well as the immense value of what we offer partner institutions. I'm excited to apply my background in strategy consulting to an organization whose mission and vision I care deeply about.”

Pandemic Silver Lining: Mixing Innovation with Tradition

While Yale-China was able to maintain a full cohort of Fellows in Hong Kong throughout the pandemic, Fellows found themselves unable to return to the mainland for nearly two years. With the chain of new and returning Fellows thus broken, the incoming Yali Fellows had to rebuild the program from the ground up, melding tradition with innovation and perseverance with creativity.

Five Fellows, including two who had been at Xiuning pre-pandemic, arrived in November 2021 to spearhead Yale-China's sole education program in the mainland at that time, and to rebuild many of the traditions that had been absent for the previous two years while also creating new ones.

“The end result was a set of Yali traditions with varying degrees of Xiuzhong flavor,” says Kate Rosenberg, Xiuning ’18-20 and Yali ’21-22. Some traditions, like a student Christmas party and a weekly conversation hour for English teachers, were always unique to Yali, but without senior Fellows who had been there before to guide them, the newcomers had to recreate them from scratch. Others, from daily activities in the English Library to the English Musical, have long been present at both mainland sites, albeit in slightly different forms. For these traditions, Fellows were able to draw at least partly on the experience of the two former Xiuning Fellows. While they may have had to figure out how to

work the stage’s lighting system, the Fellows were able to easily divide the responsibilities of producing The Little Mermaid by following what Xiuzhong had done in the past.

In Hong Kong, where programming continued mostly uninterrupted, the pandemic still led to new innovations. Realizing students’ writing skills had deteriorated due to pandemic disruptions, Fellows created a virtual writing center to tutor their students in one-on-one and group environments. They also established a biweekly Reading Circle, which not only helped students improve their English

mastery, but also became both a discussion hub and a social space for students and Fellows.

“The thing about traditions is that they are always changing, and new ones can always be created,” added Rosenberg. “The lack of institutional memory this year may have created obstacles, but it also created opportunities to do something new.”

Above: Kate Rosenberg with her former students Below: Yali Fellows and the cast of the The Little Mermaid celebrating a fantastic performance

Inspiring Educational Leaders When Students Become Fellows and Fellows Become Teachers

The opportunities Yale-China offers are transformative, igniting a lifelong pursuit of education and a passion for forging global bonds from early education to higher learning. For many of our Fellows, both Chinese and American, their fellowships have been the launchpad for a flourishing career in education.

The Spark of Lifelong Education

For Ben Lee, CCNU ‘92-94, who taught English at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, his fellowship was a formative life experience which confirmed his vocation as an educator. Currently on his third principalship as high school principal on the Pudong Campus of Shanghai American School, Ben—who says he learned the value of team teaching during his Yale-China fellowship—feels a responsibility as an educator to impact individuals who can change society and thereby the world. “While there's no shortage of critical needs in the world, sustained dialogue between people in China and the U.S. is surely vital for our shared future. Educators can and must play key roles in reestablishing that dialogue,” he says.

Helping Students with Learning Disabilities

Crystal Huang Ying, New Haven ’14-15, who taught at Edgewood School as part of her fellowship, currently teaches English to ninth graders at Yali Experimental School. While she credits her YaleChina experience with giving her a more intuitive and in-depth understanding of American society, she has been most impacted by the testing and data analysis used to diagnose learning disabilities in the U.S. education system. “In my teaching, I try my best to find and help such students, because I believe every single action makes a difference,” she says. “The concepts of stratified education, discipline integration and open homework also make my teaching more interesting and efficient.”

Here are just a few of their stories:

“As educators, it is crucial for us to allow future generations to learn to become confident and responsible global citizens. The exchange of language and culture from both the U.S. and China fosters respect for diversity and a sense of belonging to the world community.”

—Angela Leung, New Haven ’18-19 now at Columbia University Teachers College studying bilingual education

Supporting Chinese Communities in the U.S.

Mollie Korewa, Yali ’16-18, who taught English to first-year high school students, recalls making burritos with her students. “They enjoyed them but were also pretty mystified!” she recalls. Today, she continues building cultural bridges by teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to adult immigrants at the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPS) in New York City, the largest Asian-American social services organization in the country. “My students, who are just as diverse in ages as they are geographically and professionally, come with a wide variety of goals in learning English—finding a good job, getting citizenship, helping their children with homework, making friends, continuing their education, or even speaking with their grandchildren.”

Using Cross-Cultural Education to Enhance Elementary Classrooms

Coco Xie, New Haven ’19-20, who taught Mandarin to children from kindergarten to fourth grade at the John C. Daniels School (JCD) in New Haven, credits her Yale-China fellowship for the teaching style she employs today at Changya Middle School in Changsha. “Because of the Yale-China fellowship, I got the chance to observe how American students, who are the same age as my students in China, learn. The differences between the students and teaching methods helped me to improve my English and Chinese teaching.” A hands-on teacher, Coco recalls how the JCD students came together to celebrate the Lunar New Year by making dragons, writing calligraphy, making New Year’s greeting couplets, and cutting paper for the artwork. For many, it was the first time they were exposed to Chinese culture.

Back in Changsha, she incorporates elements of American culture to help her young pupils learn English. “By broadening our cultural horizons, we can foster a better understanding of language education that positively impacts our students.”

Left: Mollie Korewa with co-Fellows at Yale-China Orientation

Right: Coco Xie celebrating Chinese New Year with students in New Haven

Impact2022-23 By theNumbers education

Chia Health Fellows Continue Expanding Healthcare Delivery

For more than 20 years, Yale-China’s Chia Fellowship has served as a springboard for Chinese women in health professions to improve the health outcomes of local communities in Hunan and Yunnan provinces through research and community service projects in nursing and public health. These women have achieved impressive accomplishments: since their fellowships, Chia Fellows are twice as likely to hold Doctorate degrees; appointments of associate professor or higher; or supervisor, director, or president titles.

Most significantly, Chia Fellows use their leadership and influence to innovate, collaborate, serve underserved communities, and pay forward what they’ve learned to a new generation of health professionals.

Here are some of their success stories:

Bridging Healthcare Gaps in Rural Communities & Championing Eye Health

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among China’s working age population. China has more than 100 million people suffering from diabetes, but only approximately 6,000 retina specialists. Rural areas such as Western Hunan are particularly lacking in access to retinal care. Dr. Luo Jing, Xiangya Chia Fellow ’08, has made it her mission to bridge those gaps, training more general eye doctors in rural areas to educate, treat, and prevent ocular fundus diseases like diabetic retinopathy.

It was during her Chia Fellowship that Luo discovered her passion for serving vulnerable communities.

to treat eye diseases related to HIV/AIDS, blazing a trail and helping reduce the discrimination that prevented many HIV/AIDS patients from accessing care. “One thing is the same,” she says. “Serving others brings the same value no matter if you are in the U.S. or in China. It’s that service that continues to impact the work we do today.”

Currently an ophthalmologist at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Luo remains committed to serving underserved populations. She established the Hunan Ocular Fundus Disease Alliance and developed artificial intelligence (AI) systems in 2020 for diabetic retinopathy screening and health education in Western Hunan. With help from the Chia Community Service Program and substantial

support from the government, 190 county hospitals have joined the alliance and use AI systems for screening for fundus disease, allowing patients remote access to retina specialists without traveling hundreds of miles to the next major city of Changsha.

“Preventing and screening diabetic retinopathy in its early stage is the most efficient way to prevent avoidable blindness,” says Luo. “I think U.S. and Chinese health professionals can work together to share AI-mediated prevention systems and improve healthcare delivery in rural areas.”

Improving Healthcare Delivery & Education for Women from the Top Dr. Yan Guixin, Western Hunan Chia Fellow ‘18, is an infertility expert, creating a precedent for hysteroscopy in diagnosing and treating gynecological diseases in Huayuan County in the Western Hunan Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, an underserved rural region that has more than 40 ethnic groups. Recently promoted to the President of Huayuan County People’s Hospital, she established an infertility department and opened a specialty outpatient clinic to further standardize the diagnosis and treatment process and close the infertility gap in local communities.

In 2020, Yan established the Chia Fellows Association at Huayuan County People’s Hospital, promoting

Left: Launch of Health Xiaoya developed by Dr. Feng Hui

chronic disease prevention and management through fellowship projects. “I am proud to continue Yale-China’s valuable work at my hospital,” she says. “Chia Fellows take the lead in planning and developing their projects, while Yale-China connects them with partner institutions and professional teams to ensure their projects run smoothly and have a broad impact. For grassroots health professionals, this kind of comprehensive support structure is very meaningful.”

From Working with the Elderly in New Haven to Serving as a Geriatric Healthcare Expert in China

For Dr. Feng Hui, Xiangya Chia Fellow ‘07, a series of visits to veterans’ shelters and nursing homes during her Fellowship in New Haven solidified her interest in geriatric health promotion. “I started to focus on the research of health promotion of the older population with the support of my supervisor from the School of Nursing at Yale University,” she reminisces. “It was because of my work with veterans that I confirmed my doctoral research project, ‘The effect of group reminiscence therapy on depressed elderly in communities.’” Today, Feng is one of the preeminent authorities on geriatric health in China, with her work receiving international acclaim. As the leader of geriatric care and chronic disease management at the Xiangya Nursing School of Central

South University, Feng is widely known for developing an elderly intelligent health management system, Health Xiaoya, which combines geriatric medicine, preventive care, and rehabilitation with artificial intelligence. This system has been widely promoted and applied in China, reinforcing the pivotal role nursing plays for the promotion of healthy aging. Feng and her team won first prize for Science and Technology Progress in Hunan Province, a breakthrough accomplishment in Xiangya Nursing’s 100-year history.

Feng, who was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) in 2021 for her outstanding contributions to nursing practice, research, and education, continues to embody the Yale-China spirit of giving back and galvanizing the next generation of health professionals. She established the Xiangya Nursing Collaborative Innovation Platform to provide students with innovation laboratories, industrialization bases, and research sites. She also founded Health Zhongnan, the first student-oriented National Science Popularization Base providing health education to underprivileged communities, which won the Hunan Province Outstanding Science Award.

Left: Western Hunan Chia Fellows from Huayuan County People’s Hospital

Right: Western Hunan Chia Fellows from Fenghuang County People’s Hospital

Impact By the Numbers health

The Chia Family Health Fellowship provides training opportunities for female Chinese health professionals, starting in Changsha in 1998, expanding to Kunming in 2008, and to rural minority areas in Western Hunan in 2012.

71

Female health professionals from the Xiangya health system and Kunming Medical University trained at Yale

55

Female health professionals from minority areas in Western Hunan trained at Central South University Xiangya Medical School and its affiliated hospitals

Fellow-intiated research and community service projects to improve health in rural communities, addressing areas such as:

• Cognitive function in the elderly

• Mental health services

• Using AI to diagnose autism

• Diabetes management training

“Serving others brings the same value no matter if you are in the U.S. or in China. It’s that service that continues to impact the work we do today.”

—Dr. Luo Jing, Xiangya Chia Fellow ’08

Chia Health Fellowship Conferences Bring about Two-Way Exchange Between the U.S. and China

With more than 150 participants, the 20th Chia Fellowship Conference focused on “Chronic Disease Management and Health Promotion Among Older Adults,” and the 4th Western Hunan Chia Fellowship Conference featured a theme of “Health Promotion for Rural Older Adults.” What was significant about these conferences was the attendance by government officials from the Fenghuang County Health Commission and the Huayuan County Health Commission, as well as senior leaders from Central South University (CSU), Kunming Medical University (KMU), and hospitals in rural Western Hunan, all of which pledged local government support to further the work done by the Chia Fellowship in underserved communities.

Meet the 2022-23 Chia Fellows at Yale

Nearly 400 Scholarships to Medical Students in Financial Need

The Xiangya Overseas Alumni Association-Yale-China Association (XYOAA-YCA) Scholarship Program provides scholarships to outstanding students with demonstrated financial needs at the Xiangya Schools of medicine, public health, and nursing. The program also provides mentorship and programmatic activities to enrich students’ career planning, community service, and leadership opportunities. Eligible students include eight- and five-year medical, psychiatry, pharmacy, dental, nursing, public health, and basic science students.

Since its start in 2015, the scholarship has been disbursed to 139 Xiangya students who received full scholarships and 239 Xiangya students who received half scholarships.

DENG Luxi, Senior Nurse, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, CSU, is developing a proposal about screening the elderly for delirium in rural hospitals in Hunan.

DAI Nan, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital, KMU, is working on a follow-up study on the prevention of mental health problems in family caregivers of individuals with mental illness in Yunnan.

XIAO Yangfan, Deputy Head Nurse, Department of Anesthesiology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, CSU, is studying health-related quality of life, economic burden, and mental health in patients with systemic sclerosis in rural areas of Hunan.

ZHAO Na, Associate Head Nurse, Nursing Department, The Third Affiliated Hospital, KMU, is studying distress and health-related quality of life in patients with malignant bone tumors in Yunnan.

Current Yale-China Fellows

Fellows Changsha, Hunan

Anhui

Aaron Reiss, Xiuning ’10-12 Researcher, Journalist, & Cartographer

What has been your path from Yale to being a freelance researcher, journalist, and cartographer? What led you to your love of mapping and photography?

I fell in love with maps as a way to explore cities as an undergraduate taking urban studies classes. I started making my own maps as a senior (my first was a map of New Haven) and continued while I was in Xiuning as a Yale-China Fellow.

How did you become involved with Yale-China? Why did you decide to apply?

I really wanted to learn a new language and do so through immersion in a community. Yale-China offered that, so it was a perfect fit!

You’ve said that you love to explore “how people imagine and shape the places they inhabit.” Are there aspects to U.S. spaces, spaces in China, and how their inhabitants interact with them that intrigue you?

One thing that has always intrigued me is how the story of U.S. urban development (cities with factories > growth and pollution > the growth of suburbs > the urbanization and sprawl of suburbs > the revitalization of cities) can be seen playing out in China in a completely different context. The similarities and differences of that development story open up so many important and interesting stories and perspectives.

What was your favorite memory of your fellowship?

One of my favorite memories from my time as a Fellow was when my co-teacher, Doug, and I took a very long bike ride into the countryside. While we were taking a break, an older farmer invited us into her home for

lunch. It was such a kind, generous, unexpected gesture and it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

I feel really lucky and grateful for her kindness.

How has Yale-China impacted your career?

Yale-China completely altered the course of my career. The photo documentary work I did as a Fellow was the first time I really understood my love for visual storytelling. Learning Mandarin opened up whole new worlds of reporting to me as a journalist in NYC.

How has Yale-China affected you personally?

I started dating my now-wife through the program! She is my life partner and the mother of my only child, so the fellowship had a profound impact on my personal life. But I’m also really lucky in that my passion is what I do for work. And so many of my most impactful and celebrated stories were a direct result of learning about China, learning Mandarin, and learning about the Chinese diaspora in the U.S.

What is one piece of advice you would give current Yale-China Fellows?

Try to learn to cook some of the dishes you love eating most during your time in China!

Aaron Reiss is a freelance researcher, journalist, and cartographer based in New York City. His works have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, This American Life, The Atlantic, NPR and The Pulitzer Center, among others. For more information, visit aaronreiss.com.

Beyond the Arts Fellowship: Mixing Mediums & Bridging Disciplines in Hong Kong

For many artists and administrators who arrive in New Haven, their fellowship serves as a springboard for deeper artistic endeavors, broader career enhancements, and a bevy of opportunities allowing them to create art that transcends borders and cultures. The Yale-China Arts Fellowship is a rare opportunity for open collaboration with other artists and partners across Yale and New Haven, as they experiment with new art, new concepts, and new research to which they otherwise would not be able to have time, space, and resources to dedicate. Over the years, the Arts Fellows have shared their explorations publicly through the International Festival of Arts & Ideas and other partners, exposing global audiences in the Americas, Europe, and Asia to their work.

Despite the onset of a global pandemic, three Yale-China Arts Fellows successfully re-immersed themselves in Hong Kong, each building upon their experience in the U.S. and working across disciplines to expose universal truths, engage the senses, and educate the public through art.

“When we exchange art and ideas, we open our minds and expand our horizons,” says 2020 Yale-China Artist Fellow Hong Zeng, an academic, curator, artist, and current research associate professor at Lingnan University.

Academic, Curator, and Artist Hong Zeng, 2020 Yale-China Artist Fellow Yale-China’s values of interconnectedness and shared experiences that transcend borders and cultures is evident in the work of academic, curator, and artist Hong Zeng. Currently serving on the faculty in the Department of Visual Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, Zeng continues to explore visual culture and creative industries in Hong Kong and China, with a focus on contemporary art and film. Using multimedia art, she interweaves political, societal, and ecological themes into her thoughtprovoking pieces—for example, she recently curated a virtual exhibit titled My Trajectory, which followed the pathways of migrant women and the objects they carried with them.

“Stories about immigrants have always inspired me on how flexible we can push ourselves to be,” says Zeng. “Even though we are in a world that has been through intense globalization, leaving one’s homeland

to another place means we give up what is familiar, and we expose ourselves to the discomfort of the unknown–from new languages and new food to new ways of living.”

As a feminist scholar and cultural worker, Zeng noticed that women’s voices are lacking in mainstream immigrant stories. She was particularly interested in exploring themes of intersectionality and finding common ground in the experiences of women who had experienced forced migration and those relocating for better opportunities. No matter where they were from or where they relocated, all experienced loss, perseverance, and hope.

“Today’s political climate is intense, but these themes of humanity are universal. We can come together through everyday life experiences—from the different foods in the grocery store to the different ways we practice our lifestyles. There is not just one way of eating, dressing, and being,” says Zeng.

This intersection of geopolitics, sociology, feminism, and art continues to serve as the cornerstone in her work in Hong Kong, and she credits her Yale-China fellowship with allowing her to experience much of what her subject matters have lived. “My fellowship had a huge impact,” Zeng remarks. “I work in a competitive profession, and I would not be here had it not been for Yale-China. Personally, it was an experience into the unknown. It was a unique period where I had both time and resources to create projects, and I grabbed the opportunity!”

Cross-Disciplinary Artist Wong Chi-yung, 2020 HKETO-NY Arts Activator

Merging mindfulness and multimedia art, the latest sensory installation artwork by cross-disciplinary artist Wong Chi-yung offers visitors a space where they can use sight, sound, and touch to experience contemplation and introspection. This is Solis Occasus, Wong’s latest exploration of contemplative spaces within the science of mindfulness presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) in Hong Kong.

Named after the setting sun, Solis Occasus features a semicircular, illuminated sculpture made from dry twigs inside a crescent-shaped metallic structure. With minuscule pieces of cork lining the floor and soothing music playing, the installation turns into a screen where dark silhouettes of fish, ducks, dogs, and elephants flit across, encouraging viewers to take in the environment and let go. “Both the setting sun and (the act of) letting go keep changing at every moment, making them difficult to capture,” says Wong. “A brief moment, however, may stay in people’s hearts and inspire them with meaning.”

Wong has explored the relationship between mindfulness and the arts for many years, including during his Yale-China fellowship. While in New Haven, he developed workshops focused on the intersection of mental health and art with students, researchers, and professors. “For me, the best way to understand the world is to reflect and then to create art,” he adds. “Artwork is a bridge to connect with others.”

the Numbers

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Impact

arts

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Arts Fellows in New Haven

Since 2014, Yale-China has hosted Arts Fellows, supported by The Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office of New York and the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale.

Yale-China Arts Fellows span the contemporary arts, including sculptors, multimedia artists, arts managers, dancers, film makers, theater producers, curators, sound artists, and even a Chinese opera ethnomusicologist.

Former Artist and Arts Activator Fellows have gone on to show their work in international arenas, reaching audiences far beyond New Haven and Hong Kong and extending into mainland China, Europe, and other U.S. locations.

Kit Hung is a filmmaker and plans to produce and direct a short film during his fellowship in New Haven.

Incoming 2023 Yale-China Artist Fellow

Gratitude for Principal Liu Weichao and Principal Li Shunbao

In March of 2022, beloved Yali Middle School Principal Liu Weichao retired after 21 years, with 14 of those years serving as principal. During his tenure, he worked closely with Yale-China, helping to bring 51 Fellows to Yali, promoting Sino-U.S. cultural exchanges, broadening educational opportunities, and building a lasting friendship between these two organizations.

“As Chinese and Western cultures met in harmonious collaboration, story after story of cooperation between the Yali School and the Yale-China Association became the treasured prologue to Changsha’s history of educational development,” wrote Principal Liu in his departure letter.

Xiuning Middle School Principal Li Shunbao retired this spring as well after 10 years as principal.

Yale-China would like to thank Principal Liu and Principal Li for their continued partnership and support and wish them peace and adventure during retirement! We also welcome Yali’s new principal, Wang Xu, and Xiuning’s new principal Ye Jun and look forward to many more years of building bridges between our organizations.

New Yale-China Fellowship Builds Bridges Between New Haven’s Mandarin Chinese Speaking Community and Public Library Resources

Yale-China recently created the New Haven Free Public Library (NHFPL) Fellowship in partnership with Dwight Hall at Yale to build cultural equity and equitable access to public libraries and their offerings. Two inaugural NHFPL Fellows, Dora Guo and Haorong Lee, engaged bilingual and monolingual Mandarin Chinese speaking audiences to build access and comfort with the New Haven Free Public Library’s resources by hosting culturally relevant events, creating translated library signage, and adding to the Chinese language materials in the library’s collection.

“The NHFPL Fellowship has been a tremendous asset to the Yale and New Haven communities. It provides a landmark model for transformative engagement between universities and civic institutions serving the public good.”

— Johnny Scafidi, Director of Community Outreach & Engagement, Dwight Hall at Yale Center for Public Service and Social Justice

Salovey, President, Yale University

Above: Haorong Lee and Dora Guo's installation at the New Haven Free Public Library

Yale-China has impacted lives, careers, and entire communities for over 12 decades. We connect people and develop global and community leaders who not only lead by serving but also possess the cross-cultural understanding to bring people of all backgrounds together. That's why we need you. Your support funds life-changing fellowships and builds bridges to better U.S.-China connections.

— Mollie Korewa, Yali ’16-18

“Yale-China Association outperforms most other charities in America.”

Charity Navigator, March 2022

An investment in Yale-China today pays dividends over and over in the future.

“There's a lot of misunderstanding in both countries about people from the other country. No matter the politics and governmental decisions, people are people, and making connections is worthwhile.”

Yale-China

For more than 120 years, Yale-China has fostered collaboration between Americans and Chinese. Our work to maintain generational institutional bridges and train global citizens is more important today than ever before.

"Especially in our times, when U.S.-China relations have been challenged, it is important to remember the critical people-to-people connections that Yale-China fosters."

—Denise Ho, Yali '00-02, Twentieth-Century Chinese History Professor at Yale