Chinese Class Events in Nighthawk News

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19DpGVzB6tJPtwFBZ6XrblN6T3i6rZ1oZ-fCCZXgiPXs/edit

NOVA Chinese Course Field Trips: Spring 2023

Dr. Dali Tan organized two field trips for students enrolled in any NOVA Chinese course. The first visited Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to tour the China Folk House. The second visited Washington, D.C. to tour the National Museum of Asian Art, the Library of Congress, and the State Department.

 

On the first trip, students met Dr. John Flower, as well as his colleagues and volunteers. Participants watched a video on how he brought the China Folk House from Cizhong in Yunnan, China to Harpers Ferry. The lecture provided students with the cultural background of Yunnan, including religious influence, family dynamics, and ethnic history.

 

Students recorded their speeches describing an item or concept coming from China Folk House to preserve for future use. When the China Folk House becomes a huge attraction site for visitors, these recordings will provide the history of the item or concept.

 

At the end of the trip, students were taught by China Folk House team member Dr. Khamo how to make momos, a Tibetan Dish.

My experience for the first field trip helped me dive deeper about things I did not know about the diets of Tibetan Buddhists in China and identifying key images of how it relates to religions that is shown in the China Folk House. Dr. Khamo had lectured us that Tibetans in Cizong make tsampa bowl, which is a meal made from mixing flower with cheese and butter. It made me want to try out the tsampa bowl as it was described by the Tibetans that it is healthy for their diet. Seeing each rectangle patterns of different pictures such as a lotus and a flute, made me pounder to think is it related to a religion in China. I figured out with the explanation from Dr. Khamo that these individual patterns resemble one of the eight immortals in Daoism.

– Johnson Li

 

For the second field trip, students went to Washington, D.C. to learn the art history of China at the National Museum of Asian Art. They discovered resources on Chinese studies at the Library of Congress, and attended career panels at the State Department on the relationships with China.

 

Students saw ancient Chinese artifacts found in Anyang, China. The site tells a lot about the history of China through crafts made of bronze, stone, and jade. Other findings include oracle bones.

We were on an experiential learning DC field trip on Friday where we have docent worked with us in their special exhibits “Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings”at Smithsonian, self- guided tour Library of Congress where each students received an official Library of Congress-Reader card for the next two years and they can go to any reading room there and conduct research and using all their resources there, a presentation on materials at its Asian Reading room and putting many of the resources related to our student course research projects together.  We also visited State Department from 3 to 4:30 pm where students were able to talk to two interns there who shared their experience applying for and interviewing for and what they have been doing as interns in the State Department and a formal presentation by and Q and A session with Mr. Benjamin Sand a career diplomat from the China House of the State Department.  The speaker not only worked in China for several years as a diplomat but also had the experience of being in the same room with the President of the United States as part of his work.  His presentation and the Q and A session are simply inspirational. 

My experience from the second field trip is that it taught you on how to seek resources to learn more information about Chinese history and receiving the opportunity to learn more about the lifestyle of working at the State department. There are so many great Chinese artifacts to see in this field trip that help me realize that Chinese history is much bigger than what I think would be. Hearing from a Department of State staff member talking about their profession, helps me to realize if this profession really meant for me to do.

– Johnson Li

 

National Chinese Collegiate Honor Society Induction Ceremony

 

The National Chinese Collegiate Honor Society inducted three NOVA students on Thursday, April 20. Spasenija Radenovic, Johnson Li, and Elisabeth Bodin were all inducted into the Society for their achievements in studying Chinese language and culture under the expert guidance of Dr. Dali Tan (adjunct professor of Chinese at NOVA) and Professor Liangwan Wang (Chinese instructor at St Paul VI Catholic High School). Seven of the St. Paul VI and NOVA Dual Enrollment students received their induction ceremony during the event as well. The ceremony was held on NOVA’s Alexandria Campus from 9am to 12pm.

 

The ceremony began with a few words from Dr. Jimmie McClellan—College Dean for Languages, Arts, and Social Science Division at the Alexandria campus—and Dr. Thomas Opfer—Principal of St Paul VI. A few of the many honorable guests to the ceremony included Teresa Sweeney (NOVA Director of the Office of Grants), Gao Qing (Director of the Center for Bridging Cultures), and Dr. John Flower (Director of the Chinese program at Sidwell Friends School and the China Folk House).

 

Presentations from alumni of both schools were given following the induction. NOVA alumnus Raven Witherspoon (2020) virtually held a presentation on her experience of learning Chinese through NOVA, her current work regarding U.S.-China nuclear relations, and the importance of learning Chinese or any other foreign language. Since she began learning Chinese at NOVA, she has visited China many times, including being accepted in the Schwarzman Scholars program where she was able to take her master’s degree at Tsinghua University. 

 

Students in both classes had worked on research projects on Chinese culture, which were presented in Mandarin at the end of the ceremony. Students taking Chinese classes at NOVA are given the opportunity to visit the China Folk House in West Virginia. Students in Intermediate Chinese II did a research passion project on the cultural history of Yunnan. One of those passion projects was on Fabric Arts and Embroidery in Yunnan, presented by Elisabeth Bodin.  Her project detailed the construction processes of embroidery and Chinese tie-dye and included a hand-embroidered bag Elisabeth made with a design based on those she researched.

 

Full-time students who have completed at least three semesters of Chinese with a minimum 3.5 GPA in the subject and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 are eligible to join the National Chinese Collegiate Honor Society. Students must also demonstrate strong dedication to learning about Chinese language and culture.  

 

For more on the National Chinese Collegiate Honor Society, visit NOVA’s website here.  

 

For information about NOVA’s Chinese program, please contact Dr. Dali Tan at dtan@nvcc.edu.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19DpGVzB6tJPtwFBZ6XrblN6T3i6rZ1oZ-fCCZXgiPXs/edit