Current MA Students

I am from Charleston, South Carolina. I spent nearly three years in high school studying Chinese before deciding to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese studies with a minor in anthropology at the University of South Carolina. During my time at U of SC, I took a variety of Chinese language, culture, and literature courses, as well as studying abroad at Southwest University for Nationalities (西南民族大学）for almost a year. While there I took part in their intensive language program as well as their Chinese history/culture courses and their Tibetan minority courses. At GWU, I am interested in continuing to study Chinese Language, Literature and Culture but am particularly interested in studying minority culture.

I received my BA in Chinese Langauge and Literature from the University of Hong Kong in 2021. My research interests include the history and literature of late imperial China and Chinese women's literature. I intend to explore the connection between literary women and cultural production in late imperial China, as well as deepen my understanding of traditional Chinese theatre and drama. Outside of my studies, I enjoy doing oil paintings, playing piano and Chinese zither, doing embroidery, and learning languages. I am also currently working as a teaching assistant for the Chinese language course at GW.

I am a first year graduate student in the Chinese Language and Culture Master Program at GW. I am from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and I graduated from Boston University this past spring with a bachelors in International Relations. My intended concentration is Chinese Language and Culture. While in the program at GW, I hope to develop a research project or write a thesis relating to the pronunciation of tones or language acquisition of non-native Chinese speakers. Outside of the classroom, I enjoy playing basketball, reading, and hanging out friends.

I grew up in the DC area but have lived in Colorado for the last 5 years or so. I studied Chinese in my undergrad and was blessed to be able to spend 2 full years studying in China. I am so pumped to continue my learning into my masters! I hope to eventually become an interpreter in the Adventure Tourism sector, so my concentration is Chinese Language and Culture. Outside of learning Chinese I enjoy rock climbing, skiing, writing poems, watching nerdy movies, reading sci-fi and off-beat trivia.

I am from Orlando, Florida, and my hobbies including playing/watching sports, spending time with family and friends, going to the beach, and traveling. I am currently in my second semester of the Master’s Program at GW. During undergrad I majored in Foreign Languages and Literatures with a Specialization in Chinese at the University of Florida. The Mandarin language is something that has interested me for a long time. This interest led me to study abroad during college for two consecutive Summer semesters at Tsinghua University in Beijing. From there, my interest and familiarity with China (it’s language and culture) grew. After graduation I accepted a job working in Guangdong, China for an American-based furniture company. I ultimately worked at this job for nine months doing Quality Control work, as well as serving as a Business Apprentice to my boss. It was an incredible experience and one that I am very thankful for. During the course of this MA Program I look to primarily concentrate on Chinese language development. For me to be in an idealized career position, a mastery and understanding of Mandarin is something I must attain. Luckily I found a program at GW that is top-notch.

Shizhan Yuan
袁世湛
Yuán Shìzhàn

I am an international student from mainland China. Previously, I graduated from National University of Malaysia with Bachelor degree in Education (Teaching English as a Second Language) and I graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Master's and Doctoral Degree in Education. My research interests include teaching Chinese as a foreign language, Chinese heritage language learning, the Chinese language schools in the US and the world, the curriculum of Chinese language schools, and Chinese communities in the US and the world. I am also very interested in Chinese culture including the history of mainland China, Taiwan, and other Chinese speaking countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.

My academic interest is classical Chinese literature, especially poetry in the Tang and Song dynasty. I graduated from Shenyang Normal University and worked as a Chinese teacher in a primary school before starting my MA study in the Chinese program at GWU.