Project Lead: Prof. Jin Feng (Professor of Chinese and Japanese, and Orville and Mary Patterson Routt Professor of Literature)
Vivero Fellow (2025-2026): Chikako I.
Link: https://chinesealumni.sites.grinnell.edu/
Part of my long-term research project titled “Grinnell-in-China, China in Grinnell,” I seek to work with a Vivero Fellow to use digital storytelling to share findings on Grinnell College’s Chinese alumni in the early twentieth century. Specially, I hope to build a website to showcase their experiences at and beyond Grinnell through photos, maps, and text. The fellow will partner with me to co-design the website, input content, and conduct research especially into digital sources.
Grinnell’s early Chinese alumni were caught in the maelstrom of twentieth-century social, political, and cultural transformations both in China and across the globe. They were products of history even as they made history in a world increasingly divided by ideological tribes and geopolitical tensions. While more longitudinal studies are needed to fully excavate the rich and complex cultural and educational exchanges between Grinnell College and China during the past century, this project can provide a platform to connect Grinnellians past, present, and future as we navigate the choppy waters of Sino-US relations.
