Announcing the 2025 Fellows to China

We are thrilled to introduce you to our two new Shansi Fellows to our historic partner, Shanxi Agricultural University in Taigu, China.

Sorah Guthrie ‘25 Comparative Literature and Studio Art double major from Brooklyn, New York. On campus, she is a member of Third World Coop, a videographer for Live From Studio B, a section of the college radio station, and works as a Media Lab monitor in the art department. During the summer of 2024, she interned at the K.W. Lee Center for Leadership in Koreatown, Los Angeles, working with various non-profit organizations in creating a social justice campaign to end police brutality and advocate for Asian American mental health awareness. Combining her interests in translation and art, her senior capstone project is an artistic and literary exploration of U.S. involvement in North Korea. She volunteered at the South LA Food Cafe and Oberlin Community Services, both food pantries that help to provide groceries to underserved community members.

Yuji Kono ‘25 is a major in History, Politics, and German, with minors in East Asian Studies and Comparative Literature. His academic work at Oberlin has touched upon diaspora and the role cultural identity plays in communities abroad. He is also interested in Nuclear Policy, and was selected to attend a Nuclear Policy Workshop in Chicago hosted by the Truman Center in his second year. In his third year, he won the politics department’s Jere Bruner grant, which he used to investigate differences in the historical memory of Japanese Americans on the West and East coasts. At Oberlin, Yuji was part of the Japanese Student Association, Banjo Society, as well as the Asian American Alliance. In his free time, he enjoys playing the banjo, learning languages, and spending time with friends.