This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Yingyi Ma, an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University and the author of the book Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education. Yingyi’s book, which focuses on the specific experiences of Chinese undergraduates, examines the push-and-pull factors that have made studying abroad — and studying in the U.S. in particular — a “new education gospel” for many parents in China. She discusses why after 2006 Chinese students surged into American colleges and universities, and how despite their eagerness to build “cosmopolitan capital” by studying in the U.S., they’ve faced challenges in navigating American higher education.
6:56: A duality of ambition and anxiety
13:00: “Cosmopolitan capital” and globalization
39:57: The sacrifices made by Chinese families and researchers
43:58: American higher education and Chinese undergraduate students
46:14: With regard to education, the grass is always greener on the other side
Recommendations:
Yingyi: Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise, by Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell, and the popular Chinese language podcast Story FM.
Kaiser: The app Weee!, specializing in Asian and Hispanic food delivery.
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The delights of cooking Chinese food: A conversation with chef and author Fuchsia Dunlop
How has China changed in the past four decades? A conversation with John Holden
How will Donald Trump’s victory impact China and U.S.-China relations?
Love and journalism in wartime China: An interview with Bill Lascher
Why China bears are wrong: An interview with Andy Rothman
Suing for clean air and studying for the bar exam: Rachel Stern on China's legal system
Lines of fracture in Chinese public opinion: A conversation with Ma Tianjie
Mei Fong on the one-child policy, its consequences and what's next for China's demographics
Michael Manning: Behind bars in Beijing
Fan Yang on fakes, pirates and shanzhai culture
Frank H. Wu on Chinese-Americans and China
Andrew Ng on artificial intelligence and startup culture from Beijing to Silicon Valley
Filmmaker Daniel Whelan on Yiwu, a city at the core of cheap Chinese goods
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