Inquiry Pilots Program in Shanghai

NEXUS | The IGL Newsletter | Spring 2009 By Adam White This past winter break, the IGL organized the first ever Inquiry international research trip to provide an opportunity to see this year’s topic, Global Cities, first hand in Shanghai. Inquiry is the IGL’s high school global issues outreach program. The topic of Inquiry coincides with the EPIIC theme for the year, and the high school students spend the year leading up to the conference preparing for the program. This year, two high schools that have a long history with the IGL selected delegations to send on the pilot trip to Shanghai to look at contemporary urbanization issues in China’s fastest growing city. Three EPIIC students -- two seniors, Adam White and Peter Radosevic, and a first year student from Shanghai, Yun Luo -- traveled with students and teachers from Pace Academy in Atlanta, GA and Columbia Preparatory School in New York City. Also accompanying the group was Dr. Ryan Centner, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Tufts and an EPIIC alumnus, whose current research focuses on urban issues. While in Shanghai, the Inquiry group met with a number of professors at different universities in Shanghai for lectures on topics ranging from ecological preservation to china’s floating population. Lecturers included, Zuo Xuejin, the executive vice president and senior research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and Director of the Institute of Economics at the Academy; Lu Zhibo of the State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse at Tongji University; Zhang Peng, Architect and Professor for the “Historic Conservation” program in Shanghai at Tongji University; and Chen Wai, Director of the Research Office of “Regional Economy and Shanghai Economy” of the Institute of Economics of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. The students also had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Consulate in the city and meet with the US Economics Officer and another EPIIC student, Ben Beede. The lectures were supplemented by trips to important Shanghai neighborhoods. The students spent time exploring the old city of Shanghai and the Bund, the roots of the cities international past. The group spent one afternoon contemplating the new urban development at Pudong, the new high-tech section of Shanghai with the cities now famous skyline. This section of the city illustrated some of the examples, and also the pitfalls, of modern planning and urbanization. The group visited the Jewish Refugee museum and the Urban planning museum, and also spent an evening at the Xintiandi shopping complex, home of a contemporary Western style development, though only steps away from the site of the first Communist meeting. The group also spent one day travelling outside of the city to visit Suzhou, one of the garden cities of China, and Zhouzhaung, a water village to understand alternative urban forms and have a broader sense of Chinese life. Finally, the students spent one morning visiting a high school where they had an opportunity to meet local students and hear a more personal account of life in China and in Shanghai. The students came away with a number of lessons learned from the trip. Lots of the discussion focused on the issues particular to Shanghai and China, including components of the educational system, the recent development, and the upcoming world expo in 2010. The students developed an enhanced understanding of the topics relating to planning and organizing a city within the context of one of Asia’s most diverse and fascinating metropolises. The students returned to the U.S. with a greater mission in the Inquiry preparation and an enhanced perspective on city life and Shanghai. The fourteen students came to Tufts for the inquiry simulation where they expertly presented on the myriad of issues affecting Shanghai and the complexity of their experience in the city. Monica Markovits, dean and history chair at Columbia Prep said, “I believe that the Shanghai trip was a resounding success. The entire school is abuzz with information, anecdotes, and worthwhile images of Shanghai… If I had taught these kids for a lifetime, I could never have given them what they now have.” This pilot inquiry program was a great success for all of the students involved, Inquiry, and the IGL. Future trips that can enlighten the inquiry topic and expand the perspective of devoted high school students will continue to raise the level of understanding of the topic and seriousness for the high school students.