Fox International Fellowshipは、米国イェール大学と22の国際的に著名な大学との大学院生交流プログラムです。早稲田大学は2020年よりYale大学との連携を開始し、これまでに5名の大学院生を派遣しています。今回は、2023-2024年度にFellowとして派遣されたGecheng Zhangさん（社会科学研究科）に、Yaleでの体験を伺いました。
My Fox International Fellowship Experience at Yale University
Having spent a fruitful and meaningful 10 months with the Fox International Fellowship at Yale University, I can say with confidence that I will never regret my decision to become a Fox Fellow.
During the fellowship year, I conducted multiple academic research trips with our research fund. In November 2023, I visited Harvard University for the first time. At Harvard, I made an appointment with Professor Rana Mitter, a world-renowned specialist in Chinese intellectual history and had a one-hour coffee talk about my academic progress. During the one-hour talk, Professor Mitter pointed out the weaknesses of my ongoing research and offered me several pieces of advice on my future research. In addition, 3 more days were spent on collecting the special archives and rare books stored exclusively at the Harvard Yen-ching Library. I was able to access and carefully review some of the Manchukuo archives, but some are still stored and locked in the warehouse and need 3 business days to retrieve from the warehouse. Therefore, I got in touch with the librarians and Harvard students who shared similar research interests as me. Several in-depth talks with librarian Kuniko, Xiao-he, as well as a master’s student specializing in intellectual history provided me with useful pieces of academic advice and thought-provoking insights. We also formed a mutual aid academic society, which allows us to scan and share the exclusive archives in each other’s university without physically travelling from far away.
One of the most impressive conferences I attended during my fellowship year was the four-day International Graduate Student Conference held at the University of Hawaii in February 2024. Attending IGSC was indeed a meaningful and fruitful experience, especially as it was my first time attending an academic conference in the U.S. My paper got accepted in November and I was invited to do a poster presentation which was also an exciting first-time experience. Based on my master’s thesis at Waseda University, this presentation titled “Chinese Reflections on Asianism: From the perspectives of Sun Yat-sen, Liang Qichao, Zhang Binglin & Li Dazhao” investigates four Chinese intellectuals’ reflections on Asianism from 1897 to 1924, considering calls for “Asian cooperation” in their intellectual and historical contexts. This study also makes efforts to revitalize and to bring about the resurgence of the discussions on Asianism as one way of understanding modernity in Asia, which is underestimated or paid not enough attention by the public. In addition, insightful and precious pieces of feedback were provided by the panel discussants, participants, audience, as well as professors attending the conference. By taking into consideration the deficiencies and future prospects that were pointed out to me, I gained a clearer vision and became more confident in making further solid progress towards my doctoral thesis.
Moreover, in academia, I fully utilized the opportunities at Yale while visiting sister universities including UC San Diego, UC Los Angeles, UC Berkley and Stanford University. I met hundreds of brilliant scholars all over the U.S. These scholars generously offered me precious academic advice, insights on future research, as well as straightforward and constructive critiques. These pieces of academic advice indeed clarified the confusions I encountered during research and allowed me to keep moving towards the completion of my doctoral thesis.
In terms of daily life, we Fox fellows also enjoyed our time hanging out, exploring the campus, and traveling together. Nonetheless, the most memorable event was the Yale-Harvard football game, also known as “The Game.” The highly competitive match between formidable opponents unfolded for 75 minutes, with tens of thousands of cheers filling the venue. As the referee delivered a powerful verdict of “No foul,” the game concluded with Yale leading 23 to Harvard’s 18, with the cheers of Yale supporters erupted, and thousands of us jumped from the stands into the stadium, reveling in the sweet taste of victory.
Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Henry Fox, Alison Fox, and the whole Fox family for providing us the opportunity to be a proud Fox fellow. This would not have been possible without the Fox Family’s generosity. The person I would like to thank the most is Mr. Henry Fox. Every time I talked to Henry, I was always deeply impressed by his knowledge and enthusiasm for global affairs. I am really grateful to know the Fox family and looking forward to meeting every one of them in the near future.
Graduate School of Social Sciences, Waseda University
Fox International Fellow 2023-2024
Gecheng “Gressin” Zhang
