Meet the Fellows

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

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 ukulel.