Meet the 2022 Shansi Fellows to China
The following two weeks, we are sharing the photos and short bios for the newest members of the Shansi family, who will be heading to China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines.
Meet our newest Shansi Fellows to China! Harper Ross ’22 and Mikael Frey ’22 will both teach at Shanxi Agricultural University.
Harper Ross (she/they/he) ‘22 majored in Psychology with minors in Dance, East Asian Studies, and History. Interest in culturally-competent psychology and contemporary dance drew them to the use of community-building practices and non-traditional pedagogy to improve the lives of others. Additionally, after researching Afro-Asian histories and solidarities, they organized and invited scholars to participate in a Black History Month panel on the subject. Harper is committed to exploring the ways in which African and Asian communities can support one another, and he looks forward to engaging in this collaborative work through Shansi. During her time at Oberlin, Harper also served as a co-chair and ensemble member of Oberlin College Taiko, as well as an instructor of the Intermediate Taiko ExCo. She looks forward to improving her Mandarin skills and plans to connect with the music and sports activities around Taigu to build connections when she is not teaching.
Mikael Frey
(he/him)
’22 is a Biochemistry major with a pre-medical concentration. In his time at Oberlin, he studied Rhetoric & Composition, becoming a Writing Associate at Oberlin College’s Writing Center and tutoring students. Furthermore, Mikael continued the Mandarin Chinese language study he started in high school, notably by spending a Winter Term in Sichuan Province. Through a partnership between Oberlin and a local university, Mikael learned about Chinese eco-tourism and tested water for impurities. He climbed Mt. Emei and developed a continuing interest in the longevity of Chinese civilization and unique cultural relationships between nature, government, and humanity. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mikael took a gap year, staying in Oberlin through the 2020-‘21 school year to work as a nurse aid at a local nursing home.