Harvard Summit for Young Leaders in China
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 Action for Tomorrow Venture (ATVenture) a creative entrepreneurial program.
History
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 2010, the program is run in two cities, Shanghai and Beijing.
Student Seminars
At the heart of HSYLC's aim to foster Scholarship, the Student Seminars provide an enriching educational experience for Chinese high school students. Structured after Harvard College's own Freshman Seminar Program, seminars at HSYLC are designed and led by Harvard undergraduates who have extensive knowledge in a particular area of interest which they are passionate about teaching.
Through an extremely competitive application process, forty seminars are selected and offered at HSYLC 2009, each led by a Harvard undergraduate and aided by a Course Assistant from an elite Chinese university. Each high school participant attends two daily seminars of his or her choice. The summit includes two cycles of seminars, allowing each participant to explore a total of four seminar topics. Seminars have an average enrollment of eight students each and cover a diverse array of topics. In the past, seminars have ranged from 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 employ a holistic approach to exploring these topics, using historical, economic, literary, anthropological and ethnographic lenses of discipline. Beyond exposing students to new perspectives and new knowledge, these seminars introduce students to a new method of learning that incorporates active and collaborative research, critical analysis of sources and ideas, and debates and discussions among peers.
Distinguished Speakers Series
Throughout the conference at least one speaker event is offered each day, providing students with an intensive experience and a rare opportunity to interact with some of the most distinguished figures around the world in a short period of time. Lectures place great emphasis on audience interaction. In the past years, HSYLC has been fortunate to host Mr. 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; and Nancy Barry, former president of Women's World Banking.
Action for Tomorrow Venture (ATVenture)
ATVenture is designed to promote social entrepreneurship among Chinese young leaders. Presented as a set of workshops that provide project designing, problem solving and presentation giving skills, participants are asked to identify a societal problem, research and develop a comprehensive solution, anticipate possible obstacles and draft a sustainable budget. Students are encouraged to incorporate what they learned from the lectures and borrow from the models introduced by the Distinguished Speakers.
Students present their plans at a symposium judged by business leaders and professionals, based on the project’s ingenuity, practicality and impact. Winning proposals receive funding from HSYLC to help students materialize their plan.
Writing Program
The Writing Program offered during the HSYLC conference mirrors Harvard’s Expository Writing Program. During the workshops, participants receive personal guidance from Harvard students on the techniques for successful essay writing. Taught in intimate class settings and with less emphasis on mechanics and grammar, the classes focus instead on the presentation of arguments and counterarguments, as well as the writer’s distinctive voice.
The Writing Program also includes the HSYLC Summerbook, an entirely student-run publication consisting of a collection of student essays, based on in-class exercises with seminar leaders. Additionally, the Summerbook features a number of articles on the seminars themselves, as well as reflective essays of students’ overall experience at HSYLC. The Summerbook is a large-scale exercise in organization and encapsulates the students’ reaction to HSYLC’s programs.
Official Websites
Press Coverage
New York Times: <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01China.t.html?pagewanted=1&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/I/Ivy%20League&_r=1> 2007, April 1
Ron Tian News <http://rt.xaonline.gov.cn/xw/show.asp?id=658> 2007, March 14
Sohu News <http://sh.sohu.com/20070806/n251434963.shtml> 2007, Aug. 6
致意HSYLC(哈佛大学中美中学生领袖峰会) http://zx.china-b.com/hfdx/zixun_77124.html
中美学生领袖峰会今年将继续举行 http://www.shjubao.cn/eastday/edu/jyxw/u1a2739703.html
中美优秀学生领袖沪上聚首交流互动 http://old.jfdaily.com/gb/jfxww/xlbk/xwcb/node27909/node27910/userobject1ai1749238.html
学生粉丝用思想“叫板”易中天 http://edu.people.com.cn/GB/6079350.html
中美学生领袖峰会端出明日行动计划 http://edu.chinanews.cn/edu/xyztc/news/2007/08-13/1000644.shtml
中美学生领袖峰会易中天首讲 学生领袖要读诸子 http://edu.chinanews.cn/edu/xyztc/news/2007/08-07/996567.shtml
哈佛学生峰会 “明日行动计划” 进入决赛 http://web.xwwb.com/wbnews.php?db=2&thisid=102840
未来精英们：大声说出你们的梦想 http://www.china-cbn.com/s/n/000005/20070830/000000077351.shtml
中美学生领袖峰会第一课学习“失败” 哈佛教授 http://edu.qq.com/a/20060808/000317.htm
李开复马云激情对碰话成功http://news.chinamedia.com.cn/news/news_view_1929.htm
Morning News (新闻晨报) “200 Harvard student leaders at the US-China Summit proposed a brilliant challenge for students, namely ‘Challenge’ Yi Zhongtian” 2007, Aug. 7
Chinese Education News Online (中国教育新闻网) “Harvard student leaders and student participants at US-China Summit have a lively debate with Yi Zhongtian” 2007, Aug. 7
China News Website (中新网) and Youth Newspaper (青年报) “Yi Zhongtian, the keynote speaker at HSYLC, emphasizes that student representatives should be well-read” 2007, Aug. 6
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