Description:

In spring 2017, Mei-Ling Hopgood led a cross-cultural, multilingual storytelling project focused on international students. A team of domestic and international students from the Medill School of Journalism traveled in the U.S. and Beijing to study context, interview subjects and produce multimedia stories on the experiences of Chinese students in the Midwest. In this TEACHxperts session, Hopgood will explore and reflect on the power of multimedia interviewing and storytelling to help promote understanding towards a segment of the community that is often ignored.

She found that American journalism students listened to the interviews of Chinese students with rapt attention, and a little ashamed that they never thought about how their international classmates might experience college. The interviews revealed that their classmates might feel isolated—and are not just isolating themselves. International students might share stories of racism and isolation they've experienced on social media but never report the incidents. They might struggle with small talk and connecting with fellow students and professors, even while they are perceived to be high achievers.

Light refreshments will be provided for this brownbag talk.
This talk is a part of the TEACHxpert speaker series.