A Blog on McConnell Center Life

Joel Ben Thomas By Joel Ben Thomas , Class of 2015 In my last entry, I referenced an article written by Evan Osnos “5 Myths About China (That I’m sorry I Helped Spread).” The article encourages Americans to seek to define “the idea of China” by examining its people. According to Osnos, we should “retire the choice between the absolutes” and seek to diffuse the binaries that define US-China relations: a competition between East and West, the free market versus state-sponsored capitalism, an individualistic society against a collective one.  No doubt, I have learned a great deal about Chinese people from this study abroad experience.  No doubt, I have much more to learn.  Today, being the 25th anniversary of the student-lead protests at Tiananmen Square, there were a plethora of news articles reflecting on the event. One of the more striking ones, “Tiananmen, Forgotten” by Helen Gao, drew upon the contrasting differences between younger generations of C...

Sam Whittaker By Sam Whittaker , Class of 2015 Tomorrow afternoon, the McConnell Scholars will fly out of Beijing and arrive home in Louisville some 14 hours later. During our time in China, we have seen both what China was and what China is. China was an ancient power. The history museums we have visited in Xi'an, Shanghai, and Beijing prove this much. All three cities boast artifacts dating back as far as 1500 B.C. The first emperors of China ruled well before the advent of Greece and Rome in the West. We toured the Great Wall, ancient temples, and saw the Terra Cotta Warriors. Clearly, China has a rich history of culture, innovation, and power. Looking down from atop the Great Wall, one can not help but be impressed by what China used to be. However, when standing atop the Pearl Tower in Shanghai or sitting in the Olympic Stadium of Beijing, one is equally impressed with what China has become. China has suffered through its own closing off, internal and external p...

Philip Moore By Philip Moore , Class of 2016 When I think of a voluntary internship, I automatically notice the negative stigma that surrounds the concept, which I believe is triggered by either an inherent or capitalistic viewpoint that workers deserve wages, but after letting the initial feeling settle, I have found that the wealth one receives from work is not just monetary.  Before I begin to divulge the personal benefits that I received, I do want to make a quick point from an investment standpoint.   For a person to live comfortably and pay his or her expenses, one must be employable or entrepreneurial; without one of those traits, a person will struggle to make ends meet financially.  Thus, any experience that betters those attributes has a direct effect on the amount of income a person will make over his or her life.  This perspective contributes to people’s decisions to attend universities and graduate programs, and many students spend tremendous ...

Danielle Robinette By Danielle Robinette , Class of 2015 In the heart of Beijing, near the Olympic green, is the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park. Also known as the Chinese Nationalities Museum, it was constructed with the intention of highlighting the myriad ethnicities that exist in China. The park showcases 56 ethnic groups from across China through cultural presentations and replicas of cultural relics that represent the lives of these various groups. Of the 56 ethnicities, fellow scholar, Sam Whittaker, and I were particularly interested in a group known as the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority from Xinjiang Province in northwestern China. This group is currently most well known for their pursuit of regional autonomy and, ideally, independence from the PRC.  In our pursuit of the Uyghur section of the park, we passed a number of deserted displays and exhibits to the far end of the 125 acre park. The Uyghur village was impressive on two fronts. First, how incredibly differe...

Andrew Stewart By Andrew Stewart , Class of 2015 Today was our day to go to the university here in Xi’an and listen to a couple of lectures, one being given by Dr. Hua. The first lecture we listened to was given by a professor here at the university. He spoke on the different festivals in China. China has many different festivals for different parts of the season. They all have strong significance, unlike some American holidays that may not have much significance in our culture. Chinese festivals are usually coupled by some ancient story about how it came about, or some historical significance. Each festival also displays its own different activities and food preparations. Chinese New Year, as expected, is the largest festival and it is almost China’s equivalent to Christmas. At the end of the lecture, the professor gave us a gift of calligraphy, in which he gave us the symbol for the dragon, which is the Chinese animal for the year 2014.  Later in the day, Dr. Hua gave...