Meet the Fellows

NYU Shanghai Global Writing & Speaking Fellows provide academic support and enrichment for the students at NYU Shanghai. Fellows provide support in writing, speaking, and general academic skills. They work closely with faculty, and they tutor, teach, and collaborate with different university departments to spearhead projects and initiatives that enrich the student academic experience and university community at large. Fellows also have the opportunity to work on their own writing and research projects over the course of the academic year. Find out more about how to apply to be a Global Writing & Speaking Fellow.

 

 

Jasmine Zou
Lead Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Jasmine graduated from Barnard College as a Political Science major with minors in East Asian Studies and Translation Studies. Her senior projects included a comparative analysis of political messaging in Canadian versus American gun-rights groups, as well as a translation of selections from Taiwanese travel writer Sanmao's collection How Many Flowers Fall in Dreams. While at Barnard, Jasmine worked as a Writing Fellow in the Barnard Writing Center for three years, receiving the Erica Mann Jong '63 Writing Fellow Endowment Award for her work with students. She loves having generative conversations with students about their writing at all stages of the writing process and helping students feel more confident in their own voices. In her own creative work, she enjoys exploring themes about the necessity and the limits of language, translation across private languages, and what it means to leave home.

Ren Jie Kan
ARC Coordinator& Senior Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Ren Jie is excited to serve as an ARC Coordinator this year. As an ARC Coordinator, Ren Jie will seek to develop new initiatives to support Academic Skills Coaching in the ARC and among NYU Shanghai students, while also working closely with both Fellows and Course-Specific Learning Assistants to support and improve existing programs in the ARC. In the previous year, he served as a Lead Fellow, where he worked to train, guide, lead, and support the team of Fellows. Prior to that, Ren Jie was involved in leading creative writing workshops and starting new publications, and also worked to support English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students by facilitating regular listening and speaking workshops. He graduated from Yale-NUS College in Singapore, majoring in Literature and minoring in Arts and Humanities (Creative Writing). Outside of work: Ren Jie enjoys making pasta, writing, and exploring/cycling around various neighborhoods and green spaces in Shanghai!

Bret Hairston
Senior Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Bret Hairston (they/them) is a writer and researcher from Ohio, USA. They graduated from Williams College in 2021, where they were an Allison Davis Research Fellow and Gaius C. Bolin awardee. In their senior year at Williams, they completed an honors senior thesis focusing on Black women and the role of property in Black Gothic 20th Century Literature. Before becoming a Writing and Speaking Fellow at NYU Shanghai, they spent a year working as a Career Coach at a local non-profit in their hometown. Nowadays, in their free time, you can often find Bret playing video/board games, watching 90s anime movies, or reading the most recent queer speculative fiction. 

Jo Gao
Senior Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Jo graduated from Barnard College with a double major in Neuroscience and English. Her thesis research focused on the topics of reproductive justice and voter suppression in the context of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer’s rhetorical speeches. Jo was awarded the Estelle M. Allison Prize for excellence in literature. At Barnard, she worked as a Science Writing Fellow, dedicated to finding interdisciplinary approaches between the humanities and science. She hopes to help students recognize language and writing as a powerful, necessary tool across all fields of study. Her current academic interests lie at the junction between ecofeminist theory and the long nineteenth century. In times of leisure, Jo loves escaping into a macabre murder mystery novel, going to the theaters alone, hitting the karaoke bar with friends, and hiking (she will tell you that trees are the kindest creatures).

Lizzy Yee Zerez
Senior Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Lizzy is from Hawai’i and graduated from Grinnell College, majoring in English and concentrating in East Asian Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies. Her academic interests are broad, including anti-racist pedagogies, food history, diasporic studies, disability studies, and composition studies–and she loves learning from others’ interests and perspectives, too. She worked at Grinnell’s Writing Center, first as a writing mentor, and then as student assistant director of hiring, and has really enjoyed both roles. She believes writing is a powerful tool to process ideas and experiences, and to add our perspectives into ongoing conversations about topics we care about. She hopes to demystify academia and help students find confidence in writing, reading, speaking, and listening skills. In her free time, Lizzy likes cooking and eating good food, being outdoors, reading, listening to music, practicing bass guitar, and spending time with friends and family.

Mak Rui Teng, Phoebe
Senior Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Phoebe graduated from Yale-NUS College in Singapore with a BA(Hons) in Philosophy and a minor in Global Antiquity. Academically, their areas of interest include ancient philosophies (Indian Buddhist philosophy, Greek virtue ethics, and Chinese political philosophy), contemporary social change theory, and making philosophical inquiry more applied and accessible outside of academic institutions. They were a writing tutor in their undergraduate institution, where they received training in supporting long-form academic and creative writing projects such as capstones. They are generally interested in accessibility and inclusivity, as well as empowering students in their learning process. At NYUSH, Phoebe looks forward to working with students to figure out what works for them in writing, both in terms of process and personal voice. When they are not playing boardgames with friends, they can be found writing silly little tunes on their ukulele.

Yuechi Kelly
Senior Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

 

Yuechi (岳驰) graduated from Swarthmore College with a Bachelor’s degree (High Honors) in Education and Sociology. At Swarthmore, Yuechi served as a Resident Assistant and Career Peer Advisor. They then completed a Master’s degree in International Education Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). Yuechi later taught in Spain as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, before returning to HGSE as Research Project Coordinator for the Adolescent Ethnic-Racial Identity Development Lab. A proud Chinese adoptee who loves learning Mandarin Chinese and eating ice cream (sometimes at the same time!), Yuechi is excited to return to China and join the multilingual NYUSH community.

Zoe Wennerholm
Senior Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Zoe graduated from Vassar College in 2019 with majors in Urban Studies and Mandarin Chinese. Her academic interests include feminist urbanism, queer history, and community archives. Following graduation, Zoe worked as a college application consultant in Beijing for three years, where she enjoyed helping students discover their inner voices through writing. She will begin a master’s program in Library and Information Science in the fall of 2024. In her free time, Zoe enjoys browsing bookstores, traveling, cooking her favorite Chinese dishes, and painting.

Abby Smith
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Abby recently graduated from Occidental College with a degree in East Asian Studies and Diplomacy & World Affairs. For her undergraduate theses, she explored how historical trauma of the Gwangju Uprising has been re-represented in contemporary Korean films, and investigated the intersection between minority groups and human trafficking. During undergrad Abby worked in her college's International Programs Office for two years, serving as a peer advisor who assisted students with essays and applications. Outside of academics and work, you can often find Abby trying to expand her language skills by binge watching TV dramas (mostly C and K-dramas), attempting to cook a new recipe (to varying degrees of success), or checking out a new cafe. Abby is excited to connect with students and help them explore how writing can be used as a tool for both self expression and academic advancement. She is also looking forward to working with students who want to develop strategies to improve their speaking and presentation skills.

Ben Hales
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Ben hails from the UK, where he graduated from a BA in Ancient and Modern History and an MPhil in Modern Chinese Studies, both from the University of Oxford. His area of academic interest comprises borderlands history, particularly China’s past and present engagement with Central Asia. At Oxford, he served in various leadership roles and eventually ran the graduate-led Oxford Silk Road Think Tank, balancing this interest with an extensive extracurricular commitment to voluntary and paid tutoring. He looks forward to engaging with the students and scholars of NYU Shanghai’s vibrant interdisciplinary academic community, alongside continuing to polish his Mandarin.

Cerise (Reese) Yau
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Reese Yau (they/them) graduated from Haverford College in May 2023 with a degree in English and minors in Asian American Studies and Anthropology. Their academic interests include queer and trans Asian American literature, poetry, hybrid media, and decolonial theory. Prior to joining NYU Shanghai, they worked for Columbia University's Writing Academy where they tutored underprivileged high school students in college level writing and college application essays. In September 2024, they will begin a Master's Program at NYU in Social and Cultural Analysis. Reese is passionate about creating an inclusive environment for their students and looks forward to helping any student that might be struggling with the transition to college level coursework. They are also excited to reconnect with their Chinese heritage while in Shanghai. Outside of work, Reese enjoys playing video games, watching animated movies, and getting boba with friends.

Isabella Saracco
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Isabella grew up in Chicago, and graduated from Stanford University with a major in History and minor in Creative Writing. In her senior year, she wrote a honors thesis exploring the depictions of marriage and gender in sixteenth-century Venetian fairy tales. Isabella is always happy to talk endlessly about her interest in history and folklore. In her Creative Writing classes, she loved bringing a sense of humor to her stories. Outside of the classroom, Isabella has written for The Stanford Daily and the State of the Human Podcast. Working as a Matriculate Advising Fellow, she discovered her love of working with students. In her free time, she loves to read, sew, dance, and of course, write. 

Kevin Xue
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Kevin is from Albuquerque, New Mexico and recently graduated as an English major from Pomona College. There, he worked at the Center for Speaking, Writing, and the Image as a Speaking and Writing Partner, and is eager to build on that work and support students at NYU Shanghai in their writing and other academic pursuits. He was also an editor for two on-campus student publications, and he hopes to continue pursuing publishing in the future. Outside of academics, he has too many hobbies and interests to keep track of, but some include classical guitar, embroidery, tennis, reading, cue sports, and napping.

Kenia Sophia Garcia-Ramos
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Kenia grew up in Southern California and proudly comes from a Mexican immigrant home. She is a recent graduate of Pomona College where she majored in Chicanx-Latinx Studies and minored in Gender and Women’s Studies. They are fully bilingual in Spanish and English, and are looking forward to learning Mandarin! Kenia’s thesis explored a multi-modal creative methodology, where they synergized essay, theory, photograph, film, and interview to think through the mothering experiences of Latina (im)migrant mothers. She has great experience academically supporting students with personal essays, narrative pieces, and themes of gender, culture, and identity. As a first-generation, low-income scholar, Kenia deeply values creating safe, caring, and welcoming spaces to best support scholars and their work. More personally, Kenia loves Sanrio, can always be found with her digital camera in tow, and enjoys dancing and singing. She is excited to work with and grow alongside the vibrant community at NYU Shanghai.

Ruby Foxall
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Ruby graduated from Harvey Mudd College in sunny Claremont, California with a double major in Physics and Public Policy. Ruby's capstone work included modeling a quantum computer and analyzing zero-fare public transportation. While at Harvey Mudd, Ruby worked in the writing center and as a tutor for 3 STEM subjects. Ruby is originally from Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area and misses the fog. Outside of college, Ruby enjoys reading sci-fi books, drinking boba, and watching ice hockey games.

 

Tan Zhong Chen (Zack)
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Zhong Chen / Zack grew up in Singapore, and graduated from NYU Abu Dhabi as a Social Research and Public Policy major with minors in Arabic and Public Health. His on-campus jobs at NYUAD included working as a Peer Tutor at the Writing Center, as a Global Education Officer planning events for visiting students from the Shanghai and New York campuses, and as a peer counselor in the REACH mental well-being network. He is most interested in writing as a tool for social impact, and has written human interest stories and proofread reports for organizations such as UNICEF and UNDP. In his spare time, Zack enjoys exploring new places, learning and teaching languages, and practicing his favorite sport of parkour. 

Scout Meredith Best
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Scout Meredith Best is a political scientist, researcher, and occasional writer. She holds a B.A. in International Studies with minors in Latin American, Latinx, & Caribbean Studies and French & Francophone Studies from Dickinson College, where she graduated magna cum laude and with departmental honors. She is completing her thesis for an M.A. in Political Science from McGill University. Her research interests include great power politics, state alignment, and Latin America. Originally hailing from rural southwestern Pennsylvania, Scout Meredith has called six countries home. Beyond academia, she can be found reading, playing the violin, learning languages, and cooking. 

Xinyi Wu
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Xinyi graduated from Yale-NUS College in Singapore where she majored in anthropology. Her academic interests centred on migration and East Asian studies, and her senior thesis exploring cultural citizenship among 1.5-generation Chinese immigrants in Singapore was awarded the Bernard Bate Prize for Outstanding Capstone in Anthropology. Beyond Yale-NUS, Xinyi has helped build an e-commerce startup for secondhand books, done an internship in tech policy, and most recently served a short stint as a journalist with Singapore’s business daily. She enjoys writing—especially creative nonfiction—and reading, and she looks forward to helping students deepen their appreciation for the written word. In her free time, you can find Xinyi spending time in nature, chatting with friends (and sometimes strangers), or trying to learn Japanese. 

Yanny Liang
Global Writing & Speaking Fellow

Yanny recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BA in English and a minor in design. Her academic interests include East Asian and Asian-American literature, diaspora studies, and media studies. At WashU, Yanny was a peer tutor at the Writing Center for two years as well as a resident advisor and a campus tour leader. Yanny believes writing is a powerful tool for processing one’s experiences and she is excited to work with students at NYU Shanghai. In her free time, Yanny enjoys traveling, reading, writing, photography, and weightlifting. You can often find her exploring new places or hanging out with friends and eating good food.