Event Highlights

Work to live, or live to work? Fearful of being outcompeted and replaced, many of us find ourselves trapped in the grueling competition vying for higher status, higher income, more power, and better opportunities. How is the system of competition and self-exhaustion created and perpetuated? What role do we each play it in? While we young urbanites are exhausted by the ever-growing competition and stress, however, the situation facing the manual laborers is far more dire. For workers from different industries and social classes, what labor injustices do they face?

Through interactive activities, a student-led dialogue, and a talk about the marginalized voices of workers from Foxconn, the “WeWoked” event series challenged the participants to confront the social issues around competition, stress, labor, and exploitation.

A popular Chinese actress was accused of abandoning two surrogate babies born in the U.S.. Fierce response from the Chinese public has followed. What are the ethical and legal issues raised by the application of assisted reproductive technologies such as surrogacy and egg-freezing? How do arguments about reproductive autonomy, women's rights, exploitation come into play? We invited three panelists to discuss surrogacy, egg-freezing and egg-donation from philosophical, sociological and legal perspectives.

The panel discussion, “Xenophobia in the Time of Coronavirus: Culture, Race & Stigma,” were joined by three panelists: Joanna Waley-Cohen, Provost of NYU Shanghai and Professor of History; Lin Yao, Ph.D. candidate at Yale Law School, public intellectual and activist; and Qiu Yu, lecturer in Social Anthropology at Minzu University of China. The panelists discussed the social, political and historical contexts in which China’s citizens, members of its diaspora and people of Asian descent have been stigmatized as carriers of contagion in the time of COVID-19. Looking at both history and the current phenomenon, the panelists examined narratives that link the imagining of an infectious disease with the imagining of “the other.” In addition, the panelists commented on the recent reports of xenophobic incidents targeting African nationals in China, highlighting the historical and psychological roots of racial prejudice.

Who’s Afraid of Feminism” is an earnest and thought-provoking discussion on feminism across generations and societies. The panel presented diverse views on heated topics, from the gendered division of labor at home, to women in workplaces, from the history of feminist movement in the West to feminist activism in today’s China.

More than half of the doctors and more than 90% of the nurses on the frontlines of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Hubei are women, according to the Shanghai Women’s Federation. In various COVID-19 relief efforts initiated by civil society groups and individuals, women have also been playing an active and significant role. Nonetheless, when it comes to mainstream media representation, while there are many positive stories of women working on the front line, their professional contributions are often portrayed as a sacrifice at the expense of their femininity and care-taking duty fulfillment. Meanwhile, there is a lack of attention to the needs of the female medical workers such as their demand for feminine hygiene products.

At this online event, we talked about women’s contributions in COVID-19 response as well as how their contributions often get misrepresented while their actual needs are overlooked. In addition, panelists highlighted actions and counter efforts initiated by women that challenge the status quo of biases and inequality during the outbreak.

Learn more about the event here

Created by Nicole Chan ’13, CELEBRATE WOMEN is a commentary on the diversity and complexity of the female identity. In this photography initiative, women are invited to respond to the question:“What empowers you?” Each participant is photographed with a personal empowerment symbol (or symbols), and given creative control over the visual narrative, with technical support from an experienced photographer.

The project aims to address issues such as the lack of female representation in the art world, lack of varied female representation in the media, and the objectification and simplification of women. In Spring 2019, student photographers photographed more than 50 NYU Shanghai community members. The photos were later exhibited in the Allyship in Action Lounge on the 6th floor of the Academic Building.

Can gaming be a tool to promote equal representation, inclusivity, and social justice? Games for Humanity provided the participants a chance to have fun while reflecting on global inequality, the gender pay gap, and racism through board games, video games, and trivia.

Konrad Krawczyk '19, Esther Zhirui Yao '20, Emilio Madrazo '20 and Lina Mishachkovska '21 coordinated the event.