Seton Hall Students Present Their Study Abroad Experiences at International Conference  

Greer Below, Brent Findon, and Emily Livaudais all participated in the June in China program at Peking University in 2015 with the guidance of Professor Dongdong Chen. Greer, Brent, and Emily are all students of Diplomacy studying Chinese at Seton Hall. 

On May 7th, they shared their experiences with other students who had also gone abroad to China at the The 14th New York International Conference on Teaching Chinese held at New School University, NY. Much to their surprise, representatives from the Chinese consulate attended the conference to observe the students’ views on China.

Greer made a presentation revolving around her two visits to China before and after the Beijing Olympics. There were vast differences between her two trips which made for interesting observations. Emily discussed the differences among Chinese cities. She demonstrated how history has a profound influence on how a city evolves. Finally, Brent discussed the importance of communicating with locals when traveling. He drew upon his personal experience speaking with a student at Peking University about social and political issues in America and China.

After the presentations, the students networked with students and teachers from the US and China. They shared personal stories of their experience abroad, and stories about how they plan to continue their Chinese studies in America. One common theme throughout the day was the desire to return to China. The students all plan on pursuing scholarships and study abroad opportunities in China. This year, the June in China program will send more Seton Hall students to Beijing. They will depart May 19 and hopefully return with more interesting experiences to share.