USCET’s first class of American Studies Fellows completed their fellowships in May 2012. Our first American Studies Fellow arrived in fall 2011, and the most recent spring 2012 Fellows returned to China at the end of May.

Liu Humin, a PhD candidate and associate professor at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, was USCET’s first American Studies Fellow. She completed her fellowship at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities under the sponsorship of Professor Rabinowitz and the Department of English. In addition to continuing her dissertation research on 20th century literature, Professor Humin was able to attend two events in DC under USCET sponsorship: the Annual American Studies Association meeting in Baltimore and the event Changing Chinese Views of American Society in Washington, DC, cosponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and USCET, in cooperation with CASS.

Liu Yun (David) and Zheng Yue (Ellen) were selected as USCET’s second and third American Studies Fellows, and were in residence through the spring 2012 semester. Professor Liu is teaches at Xi’an International Studies University and a PhD candidate in American Studies at the School of English Studies of Shanghai International Studies University. He completed his fellowship at Yale University under the mentorship of Professor Matthew Jacobson. His studies focused on education theory and what China’s rapidly expanding higher education system can learn from America’s experiences.

Professor Zheng, our other fellow in spring 2012, completed her fellowship at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism under the mentorship of Professor John Newhagen. A PhD candidate of Communication Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, she used the program to further her dissertation research comparing the process of international news production between the US and China, helping to provide more cross-national empirical evidence and to uncover further insights into the international journalism field and the social systems that affect it.

USCET hosted a Fellows lunch in April 2012 to introduce USCET and the American Studies Fellows program to Washington, DC Chinese media representatives. The lunch provided an opportunity for the Fellows to present their research and the Chinese journalists to ask questions about USCET programs.