Photo by: Peng Qingyu '23

Participants were welcomed to challenge their previously held notions and identify how they can help uplift the voices of others. When reminiscing on her experience as an Ally Week Ambassador, Go Local student, Jennie Chen ’24 (陈嘉怡), said “It's such a wonderful experience to both study and do some campus jobs in NYUSH. Especially during the period of being an Ally Week ambassador, I realize how connected and lively this community is, leading me to feel the sense of belonging and involvement and encouraging me to continue finding my position in this diverse community.”

You Are What You Eat?Food Fair: Food, Identity, History (Written by Nina Ruffolo '23)

Do you know the percentage of disposable income citizens in the US spent on average on food in 2016 versus Nigeria? Where chili peppers are native to? Or perhaps the number of children forced to work on cocoa farms in West Africa? Kicking off the Ally Week events, the You Are What You Eat Food Fair introduced students to the influence of food on history and on modern society. As a partnership between NYUSH Reads and Diversity Initiatives, the fair featured two tables with a variety of festivities. At one table students were quizzed about food in terms of history, scandals, and society, with correct answers in exchange for snacks and food-themed stickers. The second table asked participants to reminisce on the foods of their hometowns. Stickers dotted a world map in conjunction with drawings of people’s favorite hometown foods. “This event was a great way to kick off Ally Week because it allowed members of the NYUSH community to gain some insight into each other’s backgrounds through conversations about our hometowns and foods” event attendee Abby Clark ’23 stated.

Participants Posing for the Photo Booth

Participant Drawing a Food from Their Home

Participant Smiling with Their Drawing

Participant Drawing

Photos by: University Communications

Screening of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse:Black Joy and Diversity in Superhero Movies (Written by Nina Ruffolo)

Monday evening’s event, led by Chelsea McLean ’22 and Teresa Arboleda ’24. The screening of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a collaboration between the Black Students Association and Diversity Initiatives. During the film, participants ate dinner bought from a Black-owned business in Shanghai – Suga’Hai. After the screening, Chelsea and Teresa presented on Black joy (that Black people can be happy despite their trauma) in media, touching upon representation and the Black is Beautiful movement (cultural movement to counteract the notion that Black features were less beautiful than Caucasian features).

After the presentation, the participants split into small groups to discuss two important questions: Can race and gender be ignored in film? What is the difference between tokenism and actual diversity? Reuniting as a group, students discussed the differences between racial, ethnic, and gender representation in Chinese and Western films. When speaking about US-American films, one group identified the lack of representation in those directing movies. With a large proportion of major directors being older white men, they discussed how the lack of representation by directors and writers made it hard for them to ignore race and gender in film. Another group discussed how race and gender are two very visible aspects of films and misrepresentation, such as tokenism, or a lack of representation, cannot be missed by viewers who do not identify with those on screen. Aline Grobys ‘23 said, “I also enjoyed the discussion about representation because that’s always a tricky topic with no correct answer. In my group, there were people both analyzing and critiquing the way representation was done in the movie, and we came to the conclusion that it works when there are characters who have personalities and characteristics besides the most basic traits of the identity they‘re supposed to represent.”

Participants During Small Group Discussion

Facilitators Chelsea McLean '22 and Teresa Arboleda '24

Participants Listening to Facilitators

Synopsis of the Movie

Recommendations for Future Viewing

Photos by: Diversity Initiatives

Not an Ivory Tower:Gender & Other Power Dynamics at the University (Written by Nina Ruffolo)

Tuesday’s event, Not an Ivory Tower: Gender & Other Power Dynamics at the University, focused on the lived experience of the panelists throughout their education and work in academia. Panelists for the event were He Yuan (何嫄), Yuan Yuan (袁源), Maya Kramer, and Lin Yao (林垚). All the panelists are or were faculty members of NYU Shanghai. Together, they compared stories of sexism, demonstrating that no matter their background or identity, academia has a long way to go until the power dynamic between genders is equal. Panelists also centered on the intersectionality of their identities while attending university and now, as faculty. Lin furthered the discussion on intersectionality, relating it to NYUSH’s mandatory first-year seminar: Global Perspectives on Society (GPS). In GPS, students learn about the intersectionality of identities. However, Lin posits students do not fully understand what intersectionality entails in academia, how the power dynamic of gender intersects with race, nationality, and age.

Speaking with He Yuan, a former GPS Fellow during the Fall 2019 and Fall 2020 semesters and panelist for the event, she gave insight into her participation in the event. Yuan states, “When Joyce reached out to me about the event initially, it was envisioned as a gender panel. But as we discussed more, we realised that the power structure within [a] university is more complicated than that and gender alone cannot provide a satisfactory framework to understand it. Intersectionality is essential.” Continuing on, she says, “NYU Shanghai is not like a traditional university, its uniqueness exposes us to a lot of untapped angles about higher education. So I think it's a good opportunity to share some of my observations and experience with friends and scholars who are still working and studying there. My position as an outsider now with some inside knowledge allows me to say things that are probably not so convenient for others to say.” Ultimately, Yuan wished to tell students they are not alone in their experiences and that it is important to take action to support each other as “courage calls to courage everywhere.”

Screenshot of Panelists by: University Communications

So You Wanna Help?Supporting Disadvantaged Populations through Non-Profit Work (Written by Alexandra Kogler ’23)

Wednesday’s Ally Week Event consisted of two components: a summary of the NYU Shanghai College and Career Lab (NYUSH CCL) and a discussion surrounding social issues. The NYUSH CCL started this year as an offshoot of NYU New York’s CCL program. In 2018, the CCL in New York started as a non-profit summer program directed at economically-disadvantaged youth in the New York City Area. Following in a similar direction, the NYUSH CCL tailored its resources to the more China-specific population of migrant children and implemented a psychological intervention component in the curriculum. Organizers hoped the psychological component would aid children in their social interactions and emotional behavior. Additionally, the camp invited various professionals to work with the children whilst facilitating constant communication with teachers regarding the content being taught. The event was organized in conjunction with the Office for Community Engaged Learning and NYU’s Associate Professor, Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng. Many of the camp counselors, an amalgamation of undergraduate students across NYU’s three main campuses, expressed the profound impact working on NYUSH”s inaugural CCL had on them.

Following the conclusion of the program overview, facilitators began a discussion on social activism, responding to questions such as “What is the issue that you care about?,” “What experiences, skills, and knowledge can you contribute to this issue?,” and “What are your next steps?” Participants were given a chance to answer these questions themselves in small groups with other attendees. Naturally, these questions prompted conversation surrounding the various social issues brought up, and challenges of and approaches towards social activism, such as how one becomes proactive in social justice advocacy. NYUSH Masters student Regina Wu, spoke on the event, stating, “I'm not always a fan of events that are blended, but So You Wanna Help organizers did a great job engaging folks in person and also online for those who were based in NYC. I really enjoyed connecting with other participants during the Roadmap Zoom breakout rooms over issues we similarly cared about. One big takeaway was from Carly's comment about being mindful of operating from a "helping" mindset rather than an empowerment mindset.”

Participants Discussing the Activity

Poster from the Event

Group Discussion

Panelists Speaking on Their Experiences

Photos by: Diversity Initiatives

Born a Mistake? Screening of Xiaodi & Trans Advocacy in China (Written by Nina Ruffolo)

Thursday’s event was NYUSH’s first-ever event solely dedicated to the experience of transgender people. Participants of the event watched the full documentary Xiaodi (晓迪) and listened to a panel consisting of the two directors of the documentary: Xiao Mi (小米) and Gao Guo (高国) and the Program Director of Beijing LGBT+ (北京同志中心), Sachi Qin (秦晔). At the end of the event, the floor was opened up for a Q&A session with the panelists. The panelists discussed their experiences with being trans non-binary in China, coming out, and how others can be allies to the LGBTQ+ community.

After the event, Andrea Parra Silva ’23 said “Growing up, I was never really exposed to the LGBTQ+ community, so I'm really grateful to have these opportunities in which I can be better informed of current situations and what I can do to be more inclusive.” Li Lanxin ’24 (李兰昕) followed up with, “When we talk about sexual minorities, we only seem to focus on gay and lesbian people. Even at NYU Shanghai, an inclusive and diverse school, this was our first event about transgender people. It's time to focus our attention on transgender, bisexual and other sexual minorities because sexual minorities outside of gay and lesbian people are actually marginalized in society.”

Participants During the Panel

Participant Wearing Earrings in Solidarity

Participant Listening to Panel

Full Room for the Showing of Xiaodi

Photos by: University Communications

Exhale: Healing & Self-Care Meditation(Written by Nina Ruffolo)

Friday’s first event was led by Carly Suita, an NYU Shanghai Staff Member and LEAD Dialogue Facilitator. Carly led participants in mindfulness meditation focusing on coping with anxiety, stress, and trauma related to microaggressions, social injustice, and structural oppression. She first got the idea to lead a meditation a year ago when the Black Student Association reached out to her to collaborate on a meditation session focused on self-care for Black History Month. Carly found the US author and educator Ruth King's Mindful of Race approach to be really thoughtful, so she adapted some of her meditation techniques into the Black History Month session. After receiving positive feedback on that event, Carly wanted to add a similar session to Ally Week this year. Pulling from Ruth King’s belief that “mindfulness is a radical act of self-compassion,” Carly wanted to create an environment for participants to give themselves love, compassion, and healing. Thinking about what made this event special, Carly said, “One thing I especially like about this meditation practice is a technique of inviting and visualizing "protectors" to join you and who you can reconnect with if your emotions feel too challenging. I also loved putting together a playlist of beautiful music from African artists, which received great feedback from the participants.”

Screenshot of the Introduction to the Session

Screenshot of Playlist Curated by Carly Siuta

Photos by: Diversity Initiatives

Ally in the Making: Who, Why & How (Written by Nina Ruffolo)

Ally Week’s final event was led by Tate Pan (潘贝迪) ‘24 on Friday, November 12th. Participants of the event watched a documentary filmed by Tate about a teacher from his high school who has polio. The teacher uses a wheelchair to get around as she is paralyzed. She discusses her realization that people in wheelchairs are still mobile and can do all sorts of activities that do not require using one's legs. The documentary also touched upon the acceptance and allyship the teacher practiced when a student came out to her. After watching the documentary, participants made comic books about themselves, their vulnerabilities, and their experiences in practicing allyship. Then, participants gathered in small groups to discuss their comic books and allyship practices.

Reflecting upon his experience, Tate said, “As the moderator of Ally in the Making, I didn't expect many people to be interested in this topic. I was worried that sharing stories of an ally might isolate them as audiences, but many people resonated with the interview video between me and my junior high school teacher. After screening, all participants made their own cute comic books, a takeaway that allows everyone to continue to explore their allyship. I really appreciate that many participants opened up and shared their experiences as allies. When more NYU Shanghai students become allies in the making, we will be more united as a community.”

Photo of the Participants

Creating Comic Books

Participant Showing off Their Comic Book

Participants During Group Discussion

Participants Creating Their Comic Books

Photos by: University Communications

The Ally Week Recap is a piece written collaboratively by Nina Ruffolo '23 and Alexandra Kogler '23