East Asia Hub

Banner image with multiple photos of cities in China

 

WPI's East Asia Hub promotes knowledge and understanding of East Asia through faculty research, student projects, institutional collaborations and partnerships, student and faculty exchanges, alumni interaction, on-campus courses, and sponsored campus events. Established initially as the China Hub in 2013, WPI made a transition to the East Asia Hub in 2022 to reflect the level of engagement with the entire region. The East Asia Hub, working closely with The Global School, is a key agent in WPI's plan for a regionally meaningful and responsible global footprint.

Mission

The East Asia Hub mission is to develop and implement a centralized strategy at WPI to:

  • Advance on-campus and off-campus knowledge of East Asia through WPI’s project based learning curriculum as well as through programmatic offerings
  • Support various on-campus extracurricular activities that will expand and enhance the experience, knowledge, skillsets, and capabilities of students, faculty, staff and the business community concerning China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea
  • Collaborate and lead education and research programs between WPI and regional partners, looking at common goals, processes, and technologies by sharing resources and expertise
  • Facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship by supporting new research collaboration ventures between WPI faculty, staff, students, and peers in the East Asia region

WPI’s East Asia Hub links students and faculty to opportunities for project sites, research collaboration, and intellectual and cultural exchange, with Hub activities taking place on campus and in Chinese- and Japanese-speaking regions.

CONTACT
Location: Salisbury Laboratories
Office Location: 408

A Strong Foundation

Our engagements with China are built from strong foundations that encompass longstanding relationships and well-established initiatives at home and abroad.

  • Over 350 WPI students traveling to six major cities in China, immersed in the culture and working alongside numerous Chinese academic, government and corporate partners to tackle and solve challenges facing local communities;
  • A growing Chinese population of nearly 700 WPI students, and increasing educational offerings in Chinese study at home and through innovative exchange programs abroad;
  • Extensive faculty research and collaborations with Chinese colleagues that address diverse issues of local and international importance;
  • Interactions with the Massachusetts business community to increase our understanding of how to work with and engage Chinese markets.

New Opportunities for Engagement

The great successes our students and faculty have already achieved in China have created a momentum for intensifying our impact through increased collaborations with Chinese partners. We will continue to strategically hone our engagements with China to target urgent challenges in a more robust, multifaceted manner as we create a dynamic hub of connections that reach across physical boundaries.

News and Upcoming Events

News

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Previous Events

China Town Hall event flyer summary

China Town Hall

On November 16th, 2022, the East Asia Hub hosted its regular China Town Hall. This time, we featured speakers David Y. Yang and Jon M. Hunstman.

Yang, an Associate Professor of Economics at Harvard, invited us to explore the relationship between cutting-edge AI technology and state power in China. By using comprehensive data, Yang revealed how facial recognition used in suppression of unrest reinforces regime stability, and how the regime's further investment in AI for political control stimulates technological innovation.

Hunstman is a former United States Ambassador to China, Russia, and Singapore, and was interviewed by NCUSCR for a nationally televised, interactive event, which followed Yang's onsite discussion.

Gamification in language learning summary flyer

Gamification in Language Learning

On December 7th, 2022, Dr. Quint Oga-Baldwin, a Professor of Education and Integrated Arts and Sciences at Waseda University, hosted a brown-bag talk at WPI about gamifying the process of language learning. As one of the emerging strands of research in language education, gamification incorporates using game elements to facilitate motivation, attention, and engagement in language learning. During his talk, Oga-Baldwin provided an overview of the theory and practice of gamification, including ongoing research efforts to educate learners in Japan

China's next act summary flyer

China's Next Act

On January 19th, 2023, WPI was visited by Dr. Scott Moore, the Director of China Programs and Strategic Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, and a political scientist and former-policy maker who focuses on China, sustainability, and emerging technology. In his presentation, China's Next Act, he discussed the pivotal role China plays in providing global public goods, while addressing global challenges, such as growing economic, geopolitical, and ideological rivalries. He concludes that China's next act will drive divergence on the rules and standards the world needs to tackle shared challeneges.