We teach Americans about China. Or Japanese about the United States. Or Chinese about Silicon Valley. Our student cohorts are often very diverse, but usually share a similar national perspective. What if we mixed that up? What if we put students from different countries in the same program and asked them to learn together—and from each other? What if we then put them to work on a common problem, sharing common goals?

[Image above: Part of one group’s final project, “Buzzing Biodiversity: The Vital Role of Pollinators in Enhancing Ecosystems,” aimed at local Beijing, Suzhou, and Irvine, CA, communities. Poster designed by Jimmy Qiyuan Zhang (Suzhou). Other group members: Annie Meitong Song (Irvine) and Xinyi Nancy Zhao (Beijing).]

This past spring, Carey Moncaster and I decided to try it. We created a joint program, the U.S.–China Co-Lab on Climate Solutions, combining the Stanford e-China Program for high school students in China, which Moncaster runs, with my China Scholars Program for high school students in the United States. Sixteen students in each country spent 14 weeks online together, exploring collaborative solutions to the climate crisis.

The U.S.–China Co-Lab (as in both “collaboration” and a hands-on “lab” done together) has two goals:

• To learn about current and potential solutions to climate change and its impacts, through a transnational lens; and
• To learn about and practice the cross-cultural collaboration skills necessary to achieve those solutions.

Climate issues were an obvious choice for the theme of the course. Not only is it the most urgent issue facing all of humanity, it is also one that avoids some of the stickier political issues between the United States and China. Chinese and American students could easily find common ground and common inspiration.

We chose to emphasize climate solutions—as opposed to problems—as a counter to discouraging narratives of crisis that surround this young generation, to instead emphasize the tools we have to correct course and heal.

“Solutions” also provided the structure for the course. Each module of the course was centered on a different area of climate solutions: Global Governance and Climate Diplomacy; Biodiversity; Green Finance; Clean Energy; Food and Agriculture. We were honored to draw on the expertise of Stanford faculty, as well as leaders from institutions like the Wilson Center and the Paulson Institute.*

In addition, we spent one week reading about cross-cultural skills. Stanford’s Scott Rozelle spoke with the students about his decades of practical experience running the Rural Education Action Program (REAP), a highly collaborative research and policy project involving transnational researchers, Chinese villagers and educators, and government officials. One student emphasized that it was Rozelle’s example in particular that “allowed me to see the ways professionals have worked together and made important findings.”

U.S.–China Co-Lab students had to work together for every assignment. The most straightforward were the in-class discussions on Zoom and the weekly, written discussion boards—which nonetheless required teaching and interpretation, with each student explaining a reading that other students had not done.

We used a design thinking approach for another assignment, the “Collaborative Prototype Challenge” developed by our SPICE colleague Mariko Yang-Yoshihara, in which each student was paired with a classmate from the other country. Through interviews, the students identified a key environmental need in their partner’s local community and brainstormed a creative prototype solution, using only materials at hand to represent it. Feedback and revision amplified this exercise in cross-cultural empathy, and the results were thoughtful, technical, artistic, and even goofy—ranging from Chinese paper lanterns made from repurposed packaging waste to a wearable air-conditioning suit to electricity generated by hamster wheels.

For our final project, the “Bilateral Media Campaign,” we stepped up the teamwork and the cross-cultural empathy. In groups of four (2 U.S., 2 China members), students created a media campaign targeting a specific climate solution, tailoring two versions for parallel audiences: one in China and one in the United States. Together, each group needed to agree on a message to inspire specific public action and two specific audiences for that message—which involved both academic and local, community-based research. With the resulting data, they had to choose medium, means, and strategy, and finally, create the materials themselves.

One group tackled invasive species and challenged teens in Arizona and Beijing to weed them out of their local ecosystems, with informative slides on buffelgrass and ragweed, respectively. A second group imagined schoolwide carbon footprint competitions between group members’ high schools in California and Shanghai. Another group sought to encourage families to adopt solar energy—for their own homes in North Carolina, or by using solar-charging personal devices in Beijing, where single-family homes are rare.

Students found the logistical coordination necessary to complete this multi-step project quite challenging and sometimes frustrating. But we considered that a realistic aspect of all collaborative problem-solving—all the more so when dealing with national boundaries, the international date line, and internet firewalls!

Feedback from the class suggests that the project was worthwhile. “I learned about the nuances and similarities between both audiences, which helped me appreciate the common ground we shared despite our diverse backgrounds,” commented one student. “The synergy that emerged from our collaboration was remarkable.”

Overall, Moncaster and I took extra care to represent a wide range of perspectives in the speakers and readings and other course materials, representing diversity in profession, academic discipline, strategy, personal background, etc. Several students commented on how their future plans had changed as a result: students who joined the program interested in policy now wanted to study climate tech as well; STEM-oriented students now understood the need for culturally informed messaging; a humanities student now felt confident in exploring environmental sciences as well.

Most importantly, friends were made, and almost all of the students plan to stay in touch with one another. Anfeng Wilson Xie, of Shanghai, China, was thankful for the opportunity to meet so many “passionate youths in the environmental field, as I have truly learned a lot from my peers.”

Feedback from the students on our first iteration of the U.S.–China Co-Lab has been overwhelmingly positive. “Its transformative journey surpassed my prior expectations,” Raiden Smith, of Tucson, Arizona, told us. He added that it “strengthened my interest in climate studies and broadened my perspective on the importance of cross-cultural communication as I’ve become more hopeful for our collaborative future.”

For our part, Moncaster and I were heartened and inspired by the intelligent, open-minded, and imaginative young people we got to know in the program and look forward to watching them forge their own future. Who knows what new solutions for our planet they may dream up together?

*We would like to offer our thanks and appreciation to all of our guest speakers for the Spring 2024 U.S.–China Co-Lab on Climate Solutions:

Thomas Fingar, Senior Scholar, Shorenstein APARC Fellow, Affiliated Scholar at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Stanford University

Darrin Magee, Director, Institute for Energy Studies, Western Washington University

Rose Niu, Chief Conservation Officer, Paulson Institute

Scott Rozelle, Faculty Co-director of the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, Helen F. Farnsworth Endowed Professorship, Senior Fellow at FSI, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research

Mark Thurber, Associate Director for Research, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, FSI, Stanford University

Jennifer L. Turner, Director, China Environment Forum, Wilson Center

For more information about the U.S.–China Co-Lab on Climate Solutions, please visit https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/fellowship/uschinacolab. The application for the spring 2025 session is open now.

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SPICE is currently accepting applications for the China Scholars Program (CSP), an intensive, college-level, online course on contemporary China for U.S. high school students. The program is open to rising 10th, 11th, and 12th graders across the United States. The Fall 2024 course will run from late August through December.

Stanford University China Scholars Program for high school students
Fall 2024 session (late August through December)
Application period: April 15 to June 15, 2023
Tuition: $2000

This exploration of China’s internal dynamics and recent history, as well as its complicated relationship with the United States, offers students critical insights into the world’s largest economy and growing superpower of the 21st century. “This program has provided me with a much broader and more nuanced understanding of China and U.S.–China relations. It has reshaped the preconceived notions I held about China and replaced them with academically vetted historical analyses” (Fall 2023 CSP student). 

Designed to provide high-achieving high school students a rich and comprehensive online learning experience, the CSP offers college-level instruction, featuring guest speakers from Stanford University and other top-tier institutions. Students engage with leading scholars, experts, and diplomats on Zoom each week, read deeply on that week’s topic, and engage in analytical discussion with classmates from across the United States. CSP students will also have an opportunity to meet online with Chinese students enrolled in the Stanford e-China Program.

The rigorous level of readings, discussion, research, and writing is a key feature of the program, helping students build a strong foundation for their college careers. Students who complete the course will be equipped with an unusual level of expertise about China and international relations—something notably lacking in the current generation of university students—which may guide their career choices. Many CSP alums have gone on to major in international relations, journalism, business, and other fields with global dimensions.

“CSP has helped me contextualize China’s transformation as it’s happening, which is something you wouldn’t really be able to study in any other kind of course,” said Angela Yang, a 2018 CSP alum who is now a reporter for NBC. “The curriculum is intensive yet very comprehensive, and it gives the inquisitive young mind a strong foundation to launch into further study of China or just a new lens through which we can better understand the world.”

More information on the China Scholars Program is available at http://chinascholars.org.

The China Scholars Program is one of several online courses offered by SPICE.

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SPICE’s programs for U.S. high school students are now accepting applications for next spring. Joining our long-running Sejong Korea Scholars Program (SKSP) and Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP) on Japan is a new program called the U.S.–China Co-Lab on Climate Solutions that will enroll U.S. and Chinese students together. 

The new Co-Lab program will be SPICE’s first truly transnational course, bringing equal numbers of 10th–12th graders from the United States and China into conversation to discuss the challenges with the global climate crisis. This program is based on four years of limited collaboration between SPICE’s China Scholars Program for U.S. students and the Stanford e-China Program for Chinese students.  Instructors Carey Moncaster and Tanya Lee are taking this experience to the next level by expanding the collaboration into a standalone program.

As in other SPICE online programs, Stanford faculty will be featured as guest speakers, sharing expertise on climate-related issues, U.S.–China relations, and strategies for global cooperation. Under the guidance of Moncaster and Lee, students will get to know each other’s lives and environments and work together on projects that could improve their own communities.

Meanwhile, the RSP and the SKSP will continue their academically rigorous introductions to East Asia, with students engaging with leading scholars, former diplomats, and other experts from Stanford and beyond.

High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors in the United States are eligible to apply to any of these three online courses. Students who are interested in more than one program can apply to two or three and rank their preferences on their applications; those who are accepted into multiple programs will be invited to enroll in their highest-preference course. 

Chinese students may apply to the U.S.–China Co-Lab on Climate Solutions after October 15.

Applications for all three programs can be found at https://spicestanford.smapply.io/. Deadlines vary:

• RSP: Oct 20
• SKSP: Nov 3
• Co-Lab: Nov 15 for U.S. students and Dec 10 for Chinese students

For more information on a specific online course, please refer to its individual webpage at https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/fellowship/uschinacolab , sejongscholars.org, or reischauerscholars.org.  

The China Scholars Program (CSP) for U.S. high school students will not be offered in Spring 2024; applications for Fall 2024 CSP will open in April. 

The following is a guest post written by Sarah Sumire Nomoto, who participated in the G7 Hiroshima Junior Conference in Hiroshima Prefecture. Sarah was a participant of the fall 2022 Stanford e-Japan course, which was taught by Meiko Kotani.

I am Sarah Sumire Nomoto. I am 17 years old, and I was born and raised in Hiroshima. My father is American, and my mother is Japanese. In this post, I would like to share thoughts on my experiences at the G7 Hiroshima Junior Conference, which was held from March 27th to 30th, 2023, and was organized by the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit. 

In advance of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, this conference had the aim to have young people from the G7 countries come together to consider, discuss, and deepen understanding about international issues and initiatives and forge a resolution from the perspective of youth. There were 24 high school students participating, including 12 Japanese students from Hiroshima Prefecture and 12 students from the remaining G7 countries: France, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Canada. We were divided into three groups: (1) Peace; (2) Sustainability; (3) Diversity and Inclusion. Because of my background as a Japanese American living in Japan and my mother’s involvement in LGBTQ+ issues in Japan, I have been interested in the topic of diversity from an early age, which led me to join the diversity group.

On the first day, we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum and listened to a story from a hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor)—something I have experienced many times as a student in Hiroshima. I knew from the Stanford e-Japan program that American students are usually taught the reasons of the bombings, but little of the impact. Then, I saw a lot of G7 country participants getting shocked by the hibakusha’s story and the museum exhibits. After this experience, we talked together about finding the difference between “knowing” and “realizing.” This was exactly the point I had tried to make in my Stanford e-Japan research paper which was coming true in front of me at the G7 Hiroshima Junior Conference.

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The second day marked the start of our group’s focus on the theme of diversity. We went on a study tour which was meant to broaden our cultural horizons. However, we learned and realized that Japanese societal views are often limited to cultural and ethnic diversity, and other critical issues such as gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, disabilities, and generational differences are less discussed. We felt that the perspectives of how our society sees diversity and inclusion must be expanded. 

On the third day, as youth representatives of the G7 countries, we presented our final outcome to Hiroshima Prefecture Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki. We recommended and demanded that youth play key roles in the discussions surrounding diversity and inclusion, as there are many crucial issues that must be addressed now. When we talked about and created our document, I realized how valuable the Stanford e-Japan program had been in preparing me to be involved in discussions like this.

I am currently doing the International Baccalaureate program in high school, and my dream is to raise people’s awareness of global issues through film production. I would like to continue my efforts based on what I have learned at this conference and through Stanford e-Japan.

The following is a guest article written by Yujia Zhai, PhD student at Zhejiang University and Special Research Student at the University of Tokyo. Zhai enrolled in a course at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Education called “Introduction to International and Cross-Cultural Education,” which was co-taught by SPICE Director Dr. Gary Mukai and former CASEER  Director Dr. Hideto Fukudome. SPICE will feature several student reflections on the course in 2023.

Last fall, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Visiting Fellow Gary Mukai, Professor Hideto Fukudome, and several distinguished guest speakers introduced a range of important topics and research hotspots in the field of international and cross-cultural education. This learning journey provided me with a great deal of inspiration, and the discussion with the speakers left a lasting impression on me.

During one of the classes, we discussed the gender gap in STEM education as well as gender inequality in employment, which prompted me to consider the underlying reasons behind these gender inequality phenomena. Even though there are undoubtedly socio-cultural factors at play, I would like to re-examine the issue from the perspective of curriculum based on my research expertise. 

As the main carrier of school education and the primary tool for disseminating human social culture, state-mandated curriculum essentially reflects the values and interests of the dominant class in society and assists to maintain the existing social hierarchy. Obviously, studying gender inequality in the curriculum, particularly fathoming the role of the curriculum in the reproduction of gender culture and its operating mechanism, will be of great significance to the reconstruction of school curriculum culture and the richer realization of gender equality education.

After careful inspection of the reality of Chinese education, I have noticed that gender inequality exists in several areas including curriculum content selection, the teaching process, and evaluation methods. Besides their higher representation in Chinese school textbooks, males are more often depicted as knowledgeable and highly capable people who are engaged in creative and indispensable jobs, whereas females are portrayed as ignorant and ill-informed, holding low-status, auxiliary roles, and frequently appear in domestic contexts. This gender discourse—imperceptibly suggested by the content of the textbooks—is continuously instilled in students’ minds, potentially shaping their thoughts and behaviors in the future.

In addition, different expectations held by teachers depending on gender will result in divergent interaction and evaluation methods adopted in common classroom settings. Male students are more frequently called on to answer questions in classrooms and assigned tasks that require more physical strength and intelligence, whereas female students are assigned simple and tedious tasks that only require attention and patience. What’s more, it might seem quite inexplicable that teachers may not hesitate too much to give criticism or punishment to male students, which possibly could be regarded as concern, love, or motivation for female students. In essence, these actions will ultimately lead to the separation of male and female students in the process of learning, inherently causing serious consequences for the students’ future intellectual development, academic achievements, and career choices.

To address the issues outlined above, we must strive to eliminate the influence of traditional gender ideology on the curriculum via regarding gender equality as the primary principle and basis for the selection of curriculum knowledge. Curriculum experts, local education administrators, gender research experts, women’s federation staffs, female teachers, representative matriarchs, and female students should all be involved in the development of curriculum, ensuring that both men and women have equal rights to behave and speak. Only by promoting a culture of gender equality and advocating the concept of gender equality through curriculum reform can we create a gender-equal school environment, achieve true educational equity, and advance the harmonious development of society.

Applications opened this week for the China Scholars Program, an intensive, college-level online course on contemporary China for U.S. high school students. The China Scholars Program (CSP) is offered by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) at Stanford University, and is open to rising 10th, 11th, and 12th graders across the United States. The Fall 2023 online course will run from late August through December. Applications are due June 15, 2023.

Stanford University China Scholars Program for high school students
Fall 2023 session (late August through December)
Application period: May 8 to June 15, 2023

Accepted applicants will engage in a rigorous academic exploration of key issues in China, spanning politics, economics, social issues, culture, and the arts, with an emphasis on the relationship between the United States and China. In real-time conversations with leading scholars, experts, and diplomats from Stanford University and other institutions, participants will be exposed to the cutting edge of U.S.–China relations and scholarship. CSP students will also have an opportunity to meet online with Chinese students in our Stanford e-China Program. Students who complete the online course will be equipped with a rare degree of expertise about China and international relations that may have a significant impact on their choice of study and future career.

“CSP was one of the best academic programs that I have attended,” said Michelle Jin, a recent alum of the program. “By engaging with CSP’s rigorous and unique curriculum, I explored aspects of contemporary China that were not covered in my high school curriculum and had meaningful discussions with invited professors and cohort peers. The curriculum culminated with an independent research paper that allowed me to delve deeper into understanding China’s ‘Rust Belt,’ a topic of immense personal interest. I would highly recommend CSP to any student willing to challenge themselves and grow!”

More information on the China Scholars Program is available at http://chinascholars.org. Interested high school students should apply now at https://spicestanford.smapply.io/prog/china_scholars_program/. The deadline to apply is June 15, 2023.

The China Scholars Program is one of several online courses offered by SPICE.

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The following is a guest article written by Jonas Timson, a graduate student at the University of Tokyo. Timson enrolled in a course at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Education called “Introduction to International and Cross-Cultural Education,” which was co-taught by SPICE Director Dr. Gary Mukai and former CASEER Director Dr. Hideto Fukudome. SPICE will feature several student reflections on the course in 2023.

Last fall, I enrolled in the course “Introduction to International and Cross-Cultural Education.” The reason why I took this course is that I was genuinely curious about how international and cross-cultural awareness and understanding is actually taught academically. As a person born in a bicultural family, international and cross-cultural understanding has been a concept surrounding me naturally in some sense, and I wasn’t completely sure whether I had been giving careful consideration regarding its true nature. 

Two of the most impressive aspects of this course were (1) the stories of Chinese and Japanese immigrants’ footpaths to the Angel Island Immigration Station—through which thousands of Asian immigrants passed—and (2) the background of Japanese war brides. During the lectures on these two topics, I thought of the following questions: How did Chinese immigrants contribute to the development of the Transcontinental Railroad? How did the detainment and interrogation of Chinese at the Angel Island Immigration Station affect them? What was the fate of Japanese immigrants and their descendants during World War II? What was life like for Japanese women who married American soldiers after World War II? How are people today helping to educate and enlighten others about these experiences? 

While contemplating these questions, I realized that every person who appeared in the stories that were shared had also helped to shape America, and none of them can be ignored. In Japan as well, there are cases where people from foreign countries—such as immigrants in ancient times and foreign inhabitants in the Meiji Era—have contributed to the development of the country. Also, it is a fact that many immigrants are taking part in Japanese society today, including the labor industry. Through this class, I could apply what I learned from the course to the context of Japan today. The course also made me realize that these people and their various contributions to Japanese society should not be ignored.

However, even if we accept such an understanding, it is not easy to develop empathy for those who are different from you. I suppose that the ability to see oneself in others is important to develop and increase mutual understanding. In order to do so, starting from knowing oneself is important. Looking at not only one’s footpath, but also one’s country will help to raise awareness and make oneself better. In fact, by practicing “mindfulness,” that is to say, by improving self knowledge, we can certainly pay attention to others and embrace them. The session on mindfulness given by the guest teacher, Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, gave the class many hints for practicing mutual understanding.

We also learned about culturally relevant curriculum in this course. According to UNESCO (2023), culturally relevant (or responsive) curriculum is “a curriculum that respects learners’ cultures and prior experiences and it acknowledges and values the legitimacy of different cultures—not just the dominant culture of a society—and encourages intercultural understanding.” As I mentioned previously, the class gave me an opportunity to learn about Japanese and Chinese immigrants, Angel Island, Japanese war brides, and other related topics. Taking a look back at my family’s history, my ancestors were also immigrants to America. My father is also an immigrant to Japan. They must have overcome lots of hardships to settle and make a stable life in the new countries to which they moved. I have been conscious about my roots, but through this course, I came to understand my roots more deeply and to more fully appreciate immigrants in the society around me as familiar and highly relevant. Indeed, this course was deeply culturally relevant to me.

Japan is becoming increasingly diverse. The number of immigrants and the number of children born in multicultural families is gradually increasing. The foreign population in Japan reached a record high of 3,070,000 at the end of December 2022 (NHK World-Japan News, 2023). Japan is literally moving towards a multicultural symbiosis society stage by stage. It is important for all of us to aim for a better society of well-being in our lives by being conscious of diversity and inclusion.

Lastly, I happened to meet a graduate student from another school at the University of Tokyo the other day. Like me, he was also born in a multicultural family. I am somewhat older than him, but though we had just met, I was surprised to hear what he said. “Thanks to the great efforts of predecessors who were born in multicultural families like you, Japan today is now in a more culturally aware age for people born under a similar situation. You are also one of them. I owe you very much.” This is actually what I have been thinking every day towards members of multicultural families in Japan who came before me. Yes, today’s society is built upon the effort of predecessors. I didn’t think I was going to hear those kinds of words from a younger person, but by his words, I thought I might have been contributing a little to the cultural diversity and inclusiveness of Japanese society. 

The course “Introduction to International and Cross-Cultural Education” had a very great impact on me. By applying what I’ve learned effectively, I hope to live as one who contributes positively to cross-cultural awareness and diversity and a society based on inclusiveness through mutual understanding. 

References: 

“Number of foreign nationals in Japan climbs to record high of over 3 million,” NHK World-Japan News, 24 March 2023. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230324_21/.

“IBE Glossary of curriculum terminology,” UNESCO Digital Library, 24 March 2023, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000223059.

The following is a guest article written by Yuntong Hu, a PhD student at the University of Tokyo. Hu enrolled in a course at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Education called “Introduction to International and Cross-Cultural Education,” which was co-taught by SPICE Director Dr. Gary Mukai and former CASEER Director Dr. Hideto Fukudome. SPICE will feature several student reflections on the course in 2023.

I enrolled in the class “Introduction to International and Cross-Cultural Education” in fall 2022. One of my biggest takeaways from the class is the need to consider cross-cultural education as an essential part of higher education. Lectures by scholars from diverse research backgrounds engaged the students in various discussions that included textbook comparisons among five societies, culturally relevant curriculum, and gender-related issues. The discussions of these and other topics greatly inspired me. 

Concerning topics like textbooks, I have often noticed conflict among different cultures and countries. Miscommunication and misunderstandings seem so commonplace that it has made me wonder whether information on other cultures and countries—provided through formal schooling—has not been provided in a balanced way. By attending the class, I realized that most of us have few opportunities to hear various perspectives on controversial topics in our schooling and that it is often the case that students learn little about other cultures and as a result, lose the chance to reflect more upon their own cultures. 

As an international student in Japan, I am often asked why I chose to study abroad. My answer is always, “I want to look at my country, China, from different perspectives.” By understanding other cultures, we recognize what is unique in our culture. Cross-cultural education can help people realize a more interconnected world where different cultures can coexist and even find benchmarks or commonalities for further cooperation. 

My PhD research topic is related to the development of world-class universities, and in this class, I realized that it is essential to think about universities from a global perspective. Nowadays, many countries consider world-class universities as a type of soft power and encourage them to play a role in the transmission of culture. However, without mutual understanding, people cannot accept different cultures easily. It is important for universities to hold an open attitude toward other cultures before they transmit their notions of culture. 

Globalization is not just about using English in classes or recruiting foreign faculty and asking them to conduct the same research as they did in their own countries. In Asia, many universities pay much attention to numbers, e.g., the number of international members, the number of papers published in English, the number of classes conducted in English. But what about the communication between foreign faculty and local students? What about the campus climate where members representing various cultures can feel comfortable? What about the presentation of diverse perspectives on controversial topics? Beyond numbers, there are many more issues to consider.  

The class provided by SPICE-CASEER helped me consider cross-cultural education in the context of not only pre-collegiate education but also in higher education. Moreover, as a student with cross-cultural experiences, I felt so fortunate to have the opportunity to reflect upon my own education and upbringing again and also to view China from other perspectives.

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Stanford e-China endowed me with a lifelong thinking-into-action mindset—Design Thinking. Over the ten weeks of the course, Stanford e-China (SeC) exposed our class of students to cutting-edge technologies touching many corners of global society: health tech, green tech, finance tech, artificial intelligence, and on and on. Sitting in front of our small display screens, we travelled miles and miles from different Chinese cities to meet at the door of Silicon Valley. Along this academically rigorous journey, the Design Thinking mindset braced our flight. At the same time, a spirit of collaboration pushed us further and higher, aided by the inspiring, personal stories of experts in various tech fields.

From friendly classmates to amiable instructors to prestigious professors, every individual in our SeC family was full of friendliness and insight, the key to the unceasing flow of energy that perpetuated the whole course. The program’s encouraging theme accentuated the spirit of “coopetition” between the world’s two tech giants: the United States and China. The reading materials that instructor Carey Moncaster helpfully provided strengthened my global awareness, delving into interesting U.S.–China “coopetitive” innovations in, for example, industrial (semiconductor chains) and green (renewable energy resources) technologies.

Another memorable takeaway was the spirit of the whole cohort. The class never ran out of questions and discussions. Each student being intellectually curious, we hit on meaningful questions that unveiled greater nuances about the topics; our patient and enthusiastic instructors and professors always provided rich explanations, juicing up the content with animated examples and demonstrations. Every one of us, students and teachers, was sincere and passionate about sharing personal perspectives and learning from each other. Without a doubt, the learning atmosphere of SeC boosted my confidence and engagement in academic discussions and highlighted the value of a cooperative, communicative classroom.

Yet another high spot of the program was the exciting collaboration between our cohort and students from another course, the China Scholars Program (CSP). Before the collaboration session, it was intriguing to learn how Stanford supported students across the United States to probe into the Chinese cultural, social, and political contexts. Distanced miles apart over the Pacific Ocean, it was a golden opportunity for us, both American and Chinese students, to work together, cross-culturally, on the global issue of environmental sustainability. Despite the significant cultural gaps, it was inspirational and warming to find existing bonds among us: we have the unanimous aim as global citizens to protect Mother Planet and promote a spirit of collaboration. In fact, the clashes and exchanges of perspectives resulting from our social and cultural gaps fruitfully added to the diversity and progression of our ideas.

It was remarkable to see the universality of Design Thinking through the collaboration. On the one hand, the SeC cohort systematically studied and applied the different steps of Design Thinking, specifically in the scope of technological innovations. On the other hand, the CSP students closely examined the contemporary Chinese contexts, making it easy for American students to empathize with the Chinese group. Together, we devised different sustainable legislations and products, for example, pipe filter masks to reduce vehicle exhaust and fintech applications to manage crowds of people at recreation sites. The experience itself magnified the power and significance of empathy, an essential step of Design Thinking, in every problem’s solution.

At the end of the course, it was an honor that my final StressOFF project (which aims to reduce Chinese teenagers’ academic stress through a virtual assistant application) got acknowledged and helped identify me as one of the course’s honorees! The journey did not end there. Genuinely concerned about Chinese high school students’ academic anxiety, I assembled a couple of schoolmates who were also interested in the topic. Together, we entered and won a neuroscience business pitching competition with our PANHUG business proposal, a hugging machine product with multi-dimensional soothing functions. But the greater importance of Design Thinking came to me later.

Near the end of the course, Ms. Moncaster brought us the book Designing Your Life, by two Stanford professors, which added a new dimension to my understanding of the Design Thinking mindset. Design Thinking can be applied to more than technological innovations or the launching of business projects. It relates to undergraduate majors, work opportunities, health routines, and relationship management. Just as technological innovations integrate into every corner of society, Design Thinking lives in every corner of life. It was such a blessing for me to join Stanford e-China and plant a Design Thinking seed.

Design Thinking is the compass of life. It is a lifelong, human-centered mindset. As a young girl who sometimes becomes directionless about the vast future waiting ahead, Design Thinking empowers me with confidence and control over my life. It pushes me to actively feel and think, empathizing and formulating what I sincerely want to pursue. Design Thinking impels us to act.