Join The China Project’s
Student Ambassador Program
The China Project’s Student Ambassador Program gives students at higher education institutions a chance to work with us in helping the world understand China. As an ambassador, you’ll develop leadership skills, engage with our network of China experts, and impact your school and community. We are currently in the 2023/24 academic year.
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What does the program entail?
Raise your Profile
Host an event with the backing of The China Project and get connected into one of the largest networks of experts on China issues. What to showcase your thesis? Get China-focused career advice? Potentially pitch writing for us? Join to work on an exciting opportunity of your choosing.
Connect to a Community
Join a close-knit community of equally engaged university and graduate students that spans some of the most prestigious higher-education institutions across the world, all who are interested in the sociopolitical, technological and business climate of China.
Career Help
The China Project Student Ambassadors will get many chances to interact with the organizations offering jobs in the China space. Understand what theyโre looking for and get first access to internship opportunities or full-time positions with our partners.
Unprecedented ChinaAccess
Get a free ChinaAccess subscription (worth $120) for the academic year and exclusive opportunities for free or discounted tickets to our live shows, speaker panels, and conferences.
Requirements for becoming a Student Ambassador
- Be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program
- Be able to identify and coordinate with student organizations on campus in order to spark conversations on current topics related to China.
- Attend the orientation (in October) and at least two other Student Ambassador monthly meetings hosted by The China Project.
- Assist in planning at least one Student Ambassador-run event in the academic year.
- Highlight the free ChinaWeekly newsletter to your institution/program.
- Assist with other The China Project activities including identifying potential speakers for conferences.
- Stay abreast of the community updates on our digital channels
Does this sound interesting to you? Apply today!
Current Student Ambassadors
Our Student Ambassadors hail from institutions all around the world, with interests in fields relating to China that range from ancient history to modern technological exchange.
Mohamed Ahmed
Student at Washtenaw Community College
Mohamed Ahmed lives in Nairobi, Kenya and is currently pursuing a general studies program at Washtenaw Community College, preparing to transfer to a four-year institution. HIs interest in China grows with the political, military, and geopolitical competitions China engages in with the United States. He finds this fascinating and looks forward to exploring these dynamics further as a part of The China Project Student Ambassadorship
Nicholas Ayrton
Student at Texas A&M University
Nicholas Ayrton is pursuing International Relations at Texas A&M University. He is keenly interested in China's role in East and Southeast Asian geopolitics. Nicholas has served in the US Navy and is a Marcellus Policy Fellow.
Samuel Bampoe-Parry
Student at University of Connecticut
Samuel is a Political Science Major at the University of Connecticut with a focus on International Relations.
Majorca Bateman-Coe
Graduate student at Columbia University
Majorca is a Graduate Student at Columbia University in the City of New York in the Film and Media Studies Department, where she also attended as an undergrad, researching emergent media, creative technologies, and the historicism of cinema with an emphasis on China, zoology, and urban studies.
Rex Beaver
Undergraduate student at Wesleyan University
Rex is currently a sophomore studying for a bachelor's degree in the College of East Asian Studies (CEAS) with a literature and culture concentration, as well as biology at Wesleyan University.
Joseph Black
Student at King's College
Joseph J Black is a student at King's College London and is largely based between Sydney, Australia, and Chiang Mai, Thailand. He has worked and interned with diverse organisations, including Young Professionals in Foreign Policy London, the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney, and Humboldt University of Berlin. He has acute interests in China, particularly gender, law and society, and economy in China.
Wilma Casey
Student at UNC Chapel Hill
Wilma Casey is a first year Global Studies and Chinese major at UNC Chapel Hill. As a non-heritage Mandarin speaker and American born in China, she is passionate about building bridges between world powers. She loves assisting college-level Mandarin classes at her local university in Charlotte, writing to a friend at the HFLS in Hangzhou, and chatting up international students in the dining hall. As a foodie and adventurer, she plans to study abroad early and often in her college career.
Charlie Croft
Undergraduate student at University of Oxford
Charlie is a fourth year undergraduate studying Chinese at Wadham College, University of Oxford. He has previously studied at National Taiwan Normal University and Peking University. He is a big fan of Li Ronghao!
Sanna Eriksson
PhD candidate in Womenโs Studies at the University of York
Sannaโs research focus is on discourses of motherhood in contemporary China. Sheโs particularly interested in how official and popular culture narratives intersect with womenโs individual understandings of motherhood. Sanna holds degrees in East Asian Studies from Helsinki University, and an MA in Social Research from the University of York. Prior to undertaking a PhD, she worked in the governmental, intergovernmental and university sectors for over a decade.
Jessabel S. Frago
Undergraduatestudent at Lyceum of the Philippines University - Manila
Jessabel is currently a senior in Lyceum of the Philippines University's College of International Relations studying Foreign Service major in Diplomacy. She is interested in China's influence in Economic and Global Trade, as well as Political Security and Defense in Asia.
Richard Gong
Graduate student at Yale University
Richard is a graduate student in Economics at Yale. He is interested in studying the competition of firms in the digital economy and the labor market returns to education. He previously earned a degree in Computer Science and Economics from UC Berkeley.
Jonah Henkle
Graduate student in Experimental Humanities at New York University
Jonah's research centers on media and cultural studies with an emphasis on Chinese politics and cinema. His work seeks to analyze cinematic, literary and artistic expression with regard to the political, economic and historical conditions which shape cultural production. He holds an undergraduate degree in Media and Cultural Studies and Critical Theory from Macalester College.
Linda Huang
Undergraduate student at Tufts University
Linda is currently a sophomore at Tufts University studying Economics and International Relations, passionate about the intersection of law and political economy.
Elias X. Huber
Yenching Scholar at Peking University
Elias X. Huber is currently a Yenching Scholar at Peking university. With a previous master in science at ETH Zรผrich, he intends to study policies and innovation processes enabling the development and commercialization of quantum technologies in China as well the broader geopolitical implications.
James Hurd
Student at Harvard University
James Hurd is a freshman at Harvard University who plans to major in East Asian Studies and Economics.
Elzฤ Pinelytฤ
Graduate student at Sciences Po & Peking University
Elzฤ holds a bachelor's degree in Sinology and currently pursues dual master's degree in International Governance and Diplomacy at Sciences Po and Peking University. Her particular analytical focus is on China's domestic and foreign policy, and its recent developments.
Wangyuan (Ruby) Qu
Postgraduate Student at University of Oxford
Ruby is currently a master's student in Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Oxford, having graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences under the Department of Social Policy. She has an ardent interest in China's multi-faceted social and geopolitical policies.
Adam ล evฤรญk
Undergraduate student at Kingโs College London
Adam is currently studying an undergraduate degree in European politics at Kingโs College London. He is half Czech and half Chinese with a keen interest in the commercial and cultural ties between China and Europe.
Romano Tucci
Undergraduate Student at the University of Cambridge
Romano is a final-year undergraduate student at the University of Cambridge currently enrolled in Chinese Studies. He enjoys traveling, food, and table tennis.
Duncan Van Der Wielen
Graduate Student in War Studies at Kingโs College London
Duncan is conducting research on semiconductor supply chains and their effects on British national security. He holds a degree in Computer Science and worked as a data scientist before joining Kingโs College.
Olivia Ware
Undergraduate Student at the University of Leeds
Liv is currently an undergraduate human geography student at the University of Leeds. She is interested in nationalism, memory politics, media, and political sociology in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In her free time, Liv enjoys learning yoga, cooking, and collects East Asian propaganda
Zhuo Chen
Undergraduate Student at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Zhuo Chen is an undergraduate student studying politics and international relations at LSE. She is a fan of Shandong Taishan, Tottenham Hotspur, and Tsingtao beer.
Natasha Lock
Yenching Scholar at Peking University
Natasha holds a degree in History, International Relations and Mandarin Chinese from the University of Exeter. As a Yenching Scholar at Peking University, her work focused on the Partyโs use of historical narratives and modern Chinese nationalism. Natasha currently resides in Taipei, where she is conducting field research alongside working in political consultancy.
Program advisory board
Who will you be interacting with for the program?
Jeremy Goldkorn
Editor in Chief and Sinica Podcast Co-Host
Jeremy Goldkorn is editor-in-chief of The China Project and co-host of the Sinica podcast. He moved to China in 1995 and became managing editor of Beijing's first independent English-language entertainment magazine. In 2003, he founded the website and research firm, Danwei, which tracked Chinese media, markets, politics, and business. It was acquired in 2013 by the Financial Times. He has lived in a worker's dormitory, produced a documentary film about African soccer players in Beijing, and rode a bicycle from Peshawar to Kathmandu via Kashgar and Lhasa. He is a graduate of the University of Cape Town.
Kaiser Kuo
Sinica Podcast Founder and The China Project Editor at Large
Kaiser Kuo is the host and co-founder of the Sinica Podcast, the leading English-language podcast on current affairs in China and the flagship show of the Sinica Network on The China Project. Sinica has been running continuously since April 2010 and has published over 500 episodes featuring prominent diplomats, political leaders, academics, journalists, activists, technologists, and business people with expertise on China. Kaiser previously served as director of international communications for Baidu, China's leading search engine, where he was named to the Holmes Influence 100, an annual list of the top in-house PR professionals for five consecutive years. Prior to that, he served as director of digital strategy, China, for leading advertising agency Ogilvy after several years as a technology reporter in Beijing for Red Herring magazine. Kaiser graduated in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1988, and received a master's degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Arizona in 1992. Kaiser was the co-founder and lead guitarist of the seminal Chinese heavy metal band Tang Dynasty, founded in 1989. He now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Elaine Chow
Chief Marketing Officer
Elaine is The China Project's Chief Marketing Officer. After an early career in journalism, in which she served as Asia Editor for tech website Gizmodo and Managing Editor of English-language China news website Shanghaiist, she went into digital marketing with a focus on helping multinationals with China-specific needs. She holds a BA from NYU and an MBA from the University of Cambridge. You can follow her on Twitter at @elaineisxyz
Anthony Tao
Managing Editor
Anthony Tao is managing editor of The China Project. He is based in Beijing, where he hosts a monthly poetry night and recites his poems as part of Poetry x Music Band (poetryxmusic.com). His poem โCoronavirus in China,โ published in Rattle in February 2020, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Previously, he was the first editor-in-chief of Radii, the founding editor of Beijing Cream, and two-time coordinator of the China Bookworm International Literary Festival. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism.
Michelle Maiuri
Director of Events
Michelle is the Director of Events at The China Project. She previously worked in finance and tech in roles driving growth, events, and people connection. Michelle lived in China for nearly 5 years, passionately developing her Mandarin Chinese language skills and community building skills throughout the country. She graduated from Kalamazoo College with a degree in International Business with concentrations in Chinese & Psychology after studying abroad in Beijing with CET for nearly a year.
Nick Ackert
Consultant
Nick Ackert recently graduated from the Security Studies Program at the MIT Department of Political Science, where he studied how Chinese foreign policy and international politics in East and Southeast Asia affect American security, business, and technology interests. Before attending MIT, he earned degrees from Harvard (BA, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Pease Thesis Prize), Peking University (MA in International Affairs, Valedictorian, Award for Contribution to Scientific Research), and the London School of Economics (MA in International History, with Distinction). He was a Student Ambassador from 2019-2022.
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