Moot Court at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center

Student blogger Alexandra Hansen introduces the HNC moot court teams and reflects on her experience competing.

HNC students (left of center) pose with a competing team and a panel of judges after the first round of the Price Monroe Media Law Moot Court Competition.

This past semester, I had the privilege of taking part in the Price Monroe Media Law Moot Court Competition. Prior to coming to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC), I had never heard about moot court. However, after an informative lecture held by Professor Thomas Simon, I was excited to get involved in an activity that would challenge me to develop my critical thinking and public speaking skills.

Moot court is a popular activity here at the HNC. For those who are not familiar with its protocol, moot court is usually a law school activity and competition during which students participate in preparing and arguing international law cases in front of judges. Each moot court competition focuses on a different aspect of law and requires students to prepare a complete memo (with a legal foundation) as well as prepare for a verbal argument against an opposing team. At the beginning of the year, interested students interview for the various competitions, and teams are made of both Chinese and international students.

This year the HNC had three teams take part in moot court competitions including the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, Price Monroe Media Law Moot Court Competition, and Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court. These three moot court competitions focus on different aspects of international law. Jessup, the world’s largest moot court competition, focuses on a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice. Price focuses on international media law disputes, and Vis focuses on international commercial arbitration cases. The final rounds for each moot court team take place in three different countries, the United States (Washington D.C.), England (Oxford), and Austria (Vienna) respectively.

While none of the HNC moot court teams qualified to compete in the international rounds this year, students enjoyed the process. Emily Rivera (HNC Certificate ’18), a member of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition explained that, “…my experience has been great! The topic is very interesting this year and highly relevant in the international public law arena.” Likewise, Deniz Cem Ozensoy (MAIS ’19) reflected positively on his involvement in the Price Monroe Media Law Moot Court and commented that the competition was “pretty fun, [and] the judges are really cool. I enjoyed the competition quite a lot, more so than preparing for it probably.” I also found the competition portion to be the most invigorating part of the moot court experience. As an oralist I enjoyed speaking in front of the judges and arguing my team’s side of the case.

I encourage any prospective students with interest in law (or developing public speaking or research skills) to get involved. Although taking part in moot court was incredibly time-consuming, and at many times challenging, it was a great experience. I left the competition in Beijing very proud of my team!

Written by Alexandra Hansen, HNC Certificate '18

Faculty Spotlight: Professor Zhang Haiyan

Last week I sat down with one of my favorite professors here at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Professor Zhang (张海燕). Professor Zhang teaches China’s Development & Environment, as well as a new course this semester called Environmental-Economic System Analysis, a class where students can quantitatively analyze environmental issues from the perspective of system analysis. We spoke about her background in environmental science, her experience working at the HNC, and the importance of studying the global environment.



 1) 首先请您介绍一下您在中美中心教什么课？
我现在在中美中心教两门课。第一门是在秋季学期的 “中国的发展与环境” (China’s Development and Environment)。这是一门给大家介绍中国在发展过程中面临的资源、能源和环境问题的课程，也是中国学课程的一门。这门课在介绍环境管理学基础理论、中国环境监管体系和基本环境政策的基础上，分八个专题深入讨论不同的环境问题，比如城镇化的环境影响、污染转移等。目前，我正在开的新课叫“环境经济系统分析” (Environmental-Economic System Analysis)。这是一门环境政策分析的基础方法课程，介绍大家可能会用到环境政策分析的方法。比如说生态足迹 (ecological footprint)、碳足迹 (carbon footprint)核算、环境影响的的驱动力分析和环境风险分析等等。我希望通过该课程的学习为学生提供系统分析环境问题的toolbox。

2) 接下来，您可以介绍个人研究背景，研究兴趣。您是如何来到中美中心?
我是南京大学本科毕业，学的是环境化学（Environmental Chemistry）。本科学习期间我觉得环境问题的解决更需要宏观层面上的环境管理。所以，我研究生期间在南京大学环境学院念的是环境规划与管理 (Environmental Planning & Management)。2007年，我去美国的 Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, 念公共政策的博士。2013年，我回到了南京大学环境学院工作。2014年，中美中心第一次开设ERE课程。当时，中美中心请环境学院的毕军教授指导设置中方ERE 方向的curriculum。所以，2014年秋季学期我和毕军教授一起来在中心教“中国的发展与环境”这门课。2016年，中美中心有一个ERE方向副教授的 job opening。因为我特别喜欢中心的教学和研究氛围，我就申请了这边的工作并很荣幸的成为了中心ERE方向的副教授.

3) 我也想问，作为老师，您最喜欢的是哪部分？是教学，研究等等？

其实，各有各自的乐趣。教学的时候，我特别喜欢中美中心的学生。中美中心学生的背景非常多元，他们来自不同的国家，学习不同的学科，所以他们在课堂上会有很多很有趣的互动跟讨论。中心的学生学习非常主动。我很喜欢中心的学生给我 ”assign reading“。我觉得这是一件很有趣，很有挑战的事情。研究也很有趣，科研可以 focus 在一个领域，针对感兴趣的现实问题寻找令人满意的答案的研究过程是一件很有乐趣的事情。所以，我最近在环境经济系统分析的课程上也给大家分享一些我正在做的研究，我正在通过环境经济系统分析的方法来研究中国居民饮食消费所面临的环境与健康双方面的挑战。

4) 教国际学生的过程中您觉得有没有什么特别的困难？
国际学生的中文语言的能力会有一些差别。刚开始的几周，可能会有一些学生觉得老师讲课跟不上。随着课程的进行，大家会很快适应，语言能力会提高很快。比如，你上学期担心ERE方向专业术语的问题，现在你也慢慢克服了。所以，刚开始的第一个学期对国际学生可能是一个挑战。特别是ERE方向的课程，因为你会学一些环境科学的专业术语，但是我觉得是随着一两月的课程学习，这些困难都会很快克服。

5) 研究领域为能源政策与环境政策分析以及环境社会治理的公众参与。为什么您觉得学生们应该学习全球环境（ERE）? 你认为更多学生愿意选择上这样的课吗？
我个人认为中心开设ERE方向主要是因为大家对环境问题越来越关注，环境问题越来越国际化。当前，资源、能源和环境问题正成为国际政治领域的热门话题，比如全球气候变化、能源安全问题等。在ERE的课程中，你可以分析中国快速城市化发展所带来的环境问题、探索全球气候治理的挑战、核算城市和个人的碳排放足迹和水足迹等。近年来，选择ERE专业的学生和上ERE课的学生越来越多。中心的学生越来越感兴趣中国的资源能源环境问题和全球的环境治理等议题。中美中心的ERE项目希望通过培养学生分析和解决资源能源环境问题的能力，共同应对紧迫的环境挑战。

6) 近年来，中国实行了很多关于环境政策，您认为中国在全球环境治理上可以作为领导者吗？
近年来，中国在全球环境治理中的角色正从过去的参与者逐步向引领者转变。在《京都议定书》中，中国属于非附件一国家，不用承担温室气体减排的责任。在《巴黎协定》中，中国承诺到2030年左右碳排放达到峰值，并设立中国气候变化南南合作基金，帮助其他发展中国家应对气候变化。中国正成为全球气候治理领域的引领者，希望在全球环境治理拥有更多的话语权。

7) 那，您对准备来中美中心的学生有什么建议吗？
中美中心是一个很有趣、很多元的地方。在中美中心，你会感受到跨语言、跨文化、跨学科的多元学习环境，你会遇到来自不同背景的有趣的同学，与他们在中心有很多有趣的、深入的交流。中心真的是一个特别有爱的地方，希望中心的学生能够享受在中美中心的学习和生活时光！

8) 您还有其他看法吗？
我觉得中美中心的学生都特别棒。上课的时候，学生会present很多不同的话题。比如共享单车和外卖点餐的环境影响、核电安全问题、中国“一带一路”政策对巴基斯坦的环境影响、妇女在应对气候变化中的作用等。不同的文化和学科背景使中心的学生对环境问题的分析都很独特、全面、深入。所以，在中美中心，你能从你的老师和你的同学那边学到很多东西。中心也为学生提供很多考察环境问题和中国环境管理现状的机会。去年秋天，中心的Raufer教授带领学生去北京、上海和深圳展开“Energy Tour”的考察。一些学生回来后对 blockchain对中国碳市场和能源系统的影响很感兴趣，就和Raufer教授开展了相关的研究。我觉得中美中心的学生真的很amazing。

Written by Emily Rivera, Certificate '18

Summer Internship in DC

 Amanda Bogan, MAIS '18, shares her experience of interning in D.C. at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China during her summer between her first and second year in Nanjing.  

While studying for my Master’s degree at the HNC, I have access to a wide range of professional development and internship experiences. As a member of the HNC community, I am regularly learning about new work and internship opportunities through the Career Services Center, the HNC alumni network, and casual conversations with classmates about their own experiences. In this post, I’ll be sharing about my experience last summer interning in D.C. with the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), while also giving some advice about finding, applying to and making the most out of any internship opportunity.

I became interested in doing work for the CECC ever since first learning about it from a conversation with the HNC’s Career Counselor. After doing some of my own research on the Commission’s work, I knew I wanted to apply for their summer internship program. As it so happened, a recent HNC alumni and former intern was currently working at the Commission as a research associate and manager of that year’s Annual Report production. I reached out to her by email, expressing my interest in the Commission, and asked about what her experience had been like as an intern for the Commission. From our communications I was able to get a better idea of what kind of responsibilities and assignments I would be given as an intern. This is also an important step in the job or internship application process. Reaching out to people who are either currently working or have previously worked at the position you’re applying to can give you an inside look at an organization’s work values and environment. This will also make you better informed and prepared, both for interviews and for when you (hopefully) begin working there.      

Having thoroughly researched this internship and submitted my application materials, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview by phone, and, eventually, receive an offer to serve as a summer intern. Making the adjustment from life in Nanjing to living in D.C. and working on Capitol Hill took a bit of time, but it helped that I was interning in an office of dedicated China experts who also had extensive experience living, working, and studying in China. When I first started my internship, I was given a personal introduction to each of the portfolios that different research associates are in charge of putting together. They would explain to me one-on-one the scope of their research, the current projects they were working on, and I could ask questions about their work. This was a great way to become more familiar with the work that was being conducted around the office, while also giving me the chance to express interest in helping with certain projects or volunteer for assignments. As an intern, I also had the chance to help with an official Commission hearing chaired by U.S. senators in the Capitol Building (which was especially exciting for me, since it was also my first time visiting our nation’s capitol).

In terms of working in the office, one of my main assignments for the summer was to update and provide new research for the Commission’s Tibet portfolio, which would eventually become a chapter in that year’s Annual Report. Because the research associate who usually oversaw the Tibet portfolio was working out of the office for the summer, I served as her stand-in and took over some of her responsibilities. I was in charge of keeping track of all Tibet-related legal and political developments as reported in U.S. and Chinese news sources and made sure all new information was recorded into the Commission’s database on a daily basis. I also attended events related to the Commission’s mandate in the D.C. area, including a panel of Tibetan scholars who presented their research findings on ongoing political and economic developments in Tibet.

My time spent researching this area for the Commission was particularly interesting as it also built of my background knowledge of Tibetan affairs from my coursework at the HNC. In fact, part of why I was assigned to work on this portfolio is because I had let my supervisor know I had recently wrote a research paper on the modern history of Tibet, and would be interested in contributing to the Commission’s research in this area. In any internship, it generally doesn’t hurt to let whoever is in charge of delegating assignments know what particular areas you’re interested in, what you’d like to learn more about, or if you have a background in a certain area that might be relevant to working on an assignment.

Internships are not only great opportunities to learn more about what kind of work you might want to go into after graduation, they’re also a unique chance to meet people with similar interests and goals. While everyone at the office took their work seriously, we also had time for fun things like interesting conversations during lunch, birthday celebrations in the conference room, and happy hour events after work. Since I was new to D.C., my coworkers would often recommend fun places to go during the weekend and they also quickly filled me in on where all of the decent Chinese restaurants are in the area. One of my favorite places in D.C., Eastern Market, I first discovered on an outing with a fellow research intern who I shared a work-space with and became good friends with. I am still in touch with several of the people I worked with today, and am looking forward to seeing them again if I find myself working in D.C. again this summer.


Written by Amanda Bogan, MAIS '18

Hiking Xuanwu Lake

Student blogger Emily Rivera, HNC Certificate ’18, writes about her experience hiking around Xuanwu Lake with a local hiking group: 南京徒步爱好群.

Pictured with the hiking group: 南京徒步爱好群.

Before coming to Nanjing, I had an image in my head of what I thought the city might be like. I had studied the history of China and I knew where to find Nanjing on a map, but as the date of my arrival to Nanjing grew closer, I realized I knew very little of the city I would call home for the year. So, I took to the Internet to learn more about Nanjing. During my searches, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that by 2018, as part of a larger project to fight pollution in cities in China, construction on two skyscrapers called the Nanjing Green Towers will be complete.  (Read more about this here).
 

Another group photo right before breaking for lunch

Nanjing presents a unique opportunity to live in a city surrounded by natural beauty, such as the famous Purple Mountain and Xuanwu Lake. Several weekends ago, my friend found a Chinese hiking group called南京徒步爱好群 on China’s equivalent of a Meetup Group app and we decided to join them for a hike. We woke up at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday and one hour later, found ourselves at Xuanwu Lake meeting the hiking group for the first time.

Conveniently, Xuanwu Lake is about a twenty-minute walk from the HNC campus. My friends and I have hiked around Xuanwu Lake before, for example, when we completed the Nanjing Walk Marathon earlier in the year and when various friends and relatives have come to visit. Located in the heart of Nanjing and partially surrounded by the City Wall of Nanjing, Xuanwu Lake is the perfect getaway to enjoy a peaceful afternoon of running, walking, riding a bike, or even taking a boat around the beautiful lake.

First-year HNC Certificate students, Kimya Nia (’18), Taylor Roth (’18), and Emily Rivera (’18), with new friends from the hiking group

The morning of our hike was especially beautiful. It was right around when the Fall weather started coming in, which meant the best hiking weather one could ask for – not too cold, not too hot. I’ve experienced Fall and the changing of the leaves before, but there was something particularly exciting about being surrounded by Xuanwu Lake, on our way to meet new hiking friends, all the while making our way to our final destination: the picturesque Purple Mountain.

First-year HNC Certificate student Taylor Roth (’18) takes a photo of the changing tree leaves around Xuanwu Lake

When we arrived, we were warmly greeted by the one leaders of the group, 静翕, who was excited to have us join her and the rest of the group on their hike of the week. That’s right, this group hikes around Nanjing every weekend! Although the majority of them grew up in Nanjing, they told us it’s important to them to get outside and enjoy the beautiful sights that Nanjing offers. While people drift both in and out of the hikes and the group, the two main leaders told us they make sure to hike every single weekend without fail.

Xuanwu Lake is an example of one hiking option in Nanjing, among others. Although HNC students are constantly busy with classes, papers, and presentations, we still find time to explore the beautiful city of Nanjing and enjoy the nice weather whenever possible!

Written by Emily Rivera, Certificate '18