Daniel is a Class of 2020 Anthropology and Asian Studies double major with research interests in Chinese political discourse and the culture of neoliberalism. Outside of his roles in GCC, he also served as an orientation mentor for international students through iLEAD. Daniel currently works for an education consulting company based in Beijing. In his free time, Daniel enjoys playing and watching table tennis as well as reading history and poetry.
—— Could you please share your experience at GCC? What was your most memorable experience?
I first joined GCC during my second year at Vanderbilt. I remember at that time I had known Datura — she became the president the next year, but she was one of the committee chairs at that time — and I was talking with her about my experience studying Chinese and wanting to study abroad. She recommended that I join Global China Connection.
Once I joined, I enjoyed working on the programming committee. But what really impressed me the most about GCC and convinced me to continue investing in it was the 2017 China Forum. The China Forum was one of the first projects that I worked on with GCC as a part of the programming committee, and I helped organize a co-sponsorship to host one of our speakers for a dinner event before the forum. The forum itself was an ambitious event, and it surprised me how big of a scale and how well our Vanderbilt chapter was able to plan everything out. (I have to shout out the GCC leadership that year, especially our president Crystal Liu!)
That was probably my most memorable experience, the 2017 China Forum. It was the first China Forum that Vanderbilt had ever hosted, and we had a great number of attendees. I think the quality of the panels and talks was very high, and the topics were specific enough to attract students with interests in many different subjects, including education, entrepreneurship, and philosophy.
I remember that year’s forum so well because it snowed on the day; we were a little worried that some would cancel as many attendees were coming in from out of town, from other universities, and from other places in Nashville. But thankfully, it didn’t become too much of a hindrance!
Overall, I was just very impressed by GCC’s leadership at that time and the strong group cohesion. We worked to build our Vanderbilt GCC chapter and fulfill our mission to engage broader audiences about China-related topics. This is also what motivated me to later run for the programming committee chair and then co-president.
—— How do your academic interests interact with your work in GCC? How did your experience with GCC help with your academic and later career choices?
With GCC, I noticed that many chapters at other universities are very business or politically focused. But for me, an Asian studies and anthropology double major, I wanted to approach China from more of a “scholarly” or academic lens. For example, last year, we partnered a lot with the Asian Studies department, and we also invited one of my professors from the anthropology department. I like this approach because we can talk about various topics like history or discourse studies, and we also have some great resources and connections here within Vanderbilt!
Regarding how GCC has influenced my career and my academic choices, I think it’s been very complimentary. Through GCC, I’ve been able to explore a lot about topics that I’m interested in. I’ve also been able to work with a great team that has taught me so much about things that I’ve never learned before, like economics, gender studies, and education.
—— How do you see our events different from other chapters?
That’s a good question, and I think my answer comes from many of my personal opinions and experiences. In previous years, many people have been talking about all the so-called Thucydides trap, being the idea that a conflict between China as a rising power and the US as the current hegemon is inevitable.
To me, these kinds of discussions (while obviously important) feel like they can quickly become too dramatic and over-politicized. People like to talk about the big headlines like the trade war, political statements by Chinese leaders or the US president, and so on.
Sometimes, I feel that it would be more useful if our GCC chapter focused more on China's individual experiences and tried to see issues from many different perspectives. For example, some members might be very passionate about education reform in China.
Then we can let that member develop that idea and invite speakers to talk about the impact of education inequality on children from rural areas. That way, we can talk about China in a more multifaceted way – we can avoid essentializing the idea of “China” as this monolithic political entity.
—— When you approach Asian studies or Chinese studies, what do you find most interesting or difficult?
I think the most interesting thing about Asian Studies is that it’s not a defined field. It’s interdisciplinary, and the curriculum is also very open, so there’s a great degree of flexibility – you can take it in any direction you want. I enjoyed this part of Asian Studies because I could integrate my interest in anthropology and see how perspectives from that field can inform my study of China.
—— What’s your most memorable experience while studying in China?
My most memorable experience in China was participating in a table tennis tournament at Capital Normal University. I was really excited and nervous, but it’s so great to be able to bond with people over a sport like table tennis. Additionally, table tennis has a wonderful history of bringing people from different countries together – it’s a great way to meet new friends too!
—— Amid an increasingly stressful China-America relationship, do you believe GCC has the responsibility or approach to present a more realistic image of China, in order to ease the tension? How can GCC events be more responsive or accommodating to the rapidly changing political reality?
That’s a relevant question. I really hope that in the future, our chapter of GCC will be able to present a diversity of voices about what China is from a variety of people. And I think that GCC has already done that, in the sense that members with different interests can lead panels, talks, and events on those topics. I also hope that we can focus more on the subjectivity of our own experiences and value what people have to say regardless of their backgrounds. Last year, one of my ideas was to hold a smaller event where different students could share some of their experiences as Chinese students on Vanderbilt’s campus when many felt unwelcome. The goal was to try to understand their personal narrative and think about how the identities that we carry with us impact our day to day experiences. Through this event, I hoped that people could learn more about the complexity of individual experiences and the importance of learning more about others before making judgments or assumptions.
I think that this pursuit of relativism, of trying to see the world through other people’s eyes, can bring a personal touch and is very important in bringing people together in a time of political tension.
—— Any advice for current GCC members? How do you think we better attract the attention from the non-GCC and non-Chinese students in the campus?
I think that in recent years, it’s been a challenge for GCC to expand its membership and audience beyond a certain sphere. Our membership is still mainly Chinese, and it’s been difficult for us to break into other areas of campus and expand our audience. Our coronavirus panel last year did an excellent job of that in that a lot of MHS majors or premed students attended. But in the future, I hope that more of our events can appeal to a wider audiences. I think many people are curious about China, but you have to find an area of connection. In the past, I’ve felt like GCC has been somewhat restricted to the China-niche crowd, but in reality, a lot of what we talk about has significance to many different academic disciplines, and I think we should leverage that as much as possible.
—— What are some challenges you face in graduating during the pandemic? How did you find a way to navigate through the job market and find something you’re passionate about?
I have to say that I’ve been very fortunate during this pandemic season! I, thankfully, am still employed at an education consulting firm based in Beijing. Because of the nature of the work, I’m able to do it all working remotely. The only challenge I’ve faced is that I’m unable to go to China. I was supposed to move to Beijing in June, but I’m still not sure when I’ll be able to go because of coronavirus. Quarantine life has been a challenge, but I’ve been able to adapt to it.
This year has also reminded me how much I miss the academic environment and being in a scholarly community. I’m currently applying to grad schools in Beijing, and I hope that if all goes well, I will continue pursuing my passion in anthropology next year!
I am fascinated by Chinese anthropology because as someone who did anthropology major in the United States, we seldom talked about Chinese anthropology. And there are a lot of great Chinese anthropologists like Fei Xiaotong. There are many barriers, because of translation, across the Pacific Ocean, so to speak. You know there isn’t much communication between Chinese anthropology and the United States. So I want to learn more about the differences, the methodologies, the different perspectives. In anthropology in the United States, there is this cultural relativism, and in the UK, there is functionalism; each region comes up with its specific way of approaching anthropology. And I want to know what the perspectives of Chinese anthropologists are at this time, and how it might be different from what I have learned here in the United States.
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