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Harvard Summit for Young Leaders in China

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The Harvard Summit for Young Leaders in China (HSYLC) is an annual conference for Chinese high school students organized by the Harvard Association for US-China Relations (HAUSCR). The eight-day conference, conducted by Harvard College undergraduates, faculty, and prominent leaders from both nations, seeks to expose 600 Chinese high school students to liberal arts education. The conference includes Student Seminars led by 60 Harvard College undergraduate students, a Distinguished Speaker Series, and an entrepreneurial program organized in connection with China Thinks Big.

History

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HSYLC's parent organization, HAUSCR, was founded in the fall of 2005 by seven Harvard College freshmen. HSYLC became the organization's flagship program, and the first conference was held in the summer of 2006. HSYLC 2006, supported by the Goldman Sachs Foundation and American Airlines, recruited 37 Harvard students to create and teach a curriculum at a school in Shanghai. The program received extensive media attention across China, bringing approximately 600 high school students from among thousands of applicants to participate. By 2008, the Chinese high school students at HSYLC represented 120 high schools from across China. By HSYLC 2016, the program consisted of separate sites in three cities, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. HSYLC Hangzhou 2016 was organized in partnership with the 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit.

Student seminars

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HSYLC teaches Chinese high school students. Structured after Harvard College's own Freshman Seminar Program, seminars at HSYLC are designed and led by Harvard undergraduates knowledgeable in a particular area of interest.

Through an application process, 90 to 100 Seminar Leaders (SLs) are selected to lead week-long seminars in either Beijing, Shanghai, or Hangzhou, and are aided by a Teaching Assistant, a Chinese college student who undergoes an application process. Each high school participant can explore a total of six seminar topics. In the past, seminars have ranged from the academic, such as Uncovering Dark Corners of Human Psyche: Abnormal Psychology, The Game Theory of International Relations, Your Brain on Computers, and V.2.0: Present and Future Possibilities in Electronically Enhancing the Human Mind, to less conventional ones, including The Social Psychology of Love and Attraction and A History of Chocolate. Seminar leaders and students explore these topics using historical, economic, literary, anthropological and ethnographic lenses of discipline. The seminars introduce students to a new style of learning that incorporates active and collaborative research, critical analysis of sources and ideas, and Socratic discussions among peers.

Speaker events

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Throughout the conference at least one speaker event is offered each day. Lectures emphasize audience interaction. HSYLC has hosted Jack Ma Yun, founder of Alibaba.com and CEO of Yahoo! China as well as Mr. John L. Thornton, former president of Goldman Sachs. Other past speakers include: Kai-Fu Lee, founding president of Google China; Lawrence Summers, former President of Harvard University; Yuanli Liu, Assistant Professor and Founding Director of the China Initiative from Harvard School of Public Health; Johnny Depp, famous actor; Yao Ming; and Nancy Barry, former president of Women's World Banking.

Press coverage

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Regarding Cultural Exchange/Developing Student Leaders:

  • Morning News (新闻晨报) “Outstanding Chinese and American student leaders interact in Shanghai” 2007, Aug. 6
  • News Exchange Medium (文新传媒) “China and the United States strengthen exchange at 2007 student leaders summit opening” 2007, Aug. 6 Youth Newspaper “Harvard leaders to train and teach high school students” 2007, Aug. 6
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