This document summarizes an article from the October 2008 issue of the IUPeople newsletter. It discusses several topics: 1) Charles Laughlin's letter from Washington D.C. where he is participating in a program for public intellectuals on US-China relations. He encourages students to get involved beyond academia. 2) An alumni profile of Joel Backaler who secured a job in Beijing with his Chinese language skills and networking. 3) An update on the annual teaching internships IUP directors do at US universities to understand students' experiences. 4) An outing IUP students took to an old village outside Beijing and their attendance at the Paralympic wheelchair rugby matches in Beijing,

1. 请华大学 | Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies ( 清华 IUP 中文中心)
Volume 2, Issue 1
IUPeople October 2008
Letter from the Director the communities beyond academia, especially the
policy community and the general public, directly and
through the media.
This program is highly relevant to IUP: IUP's
Executive Director Tom Gold and John
Berninghausen, who established the Chinese program
at Middlebury College, are on its Advisory board. At
least three of the 20 fellows are IUP alumni, one of
whom is a member of the IUP Board of Directors.
More importantly, some of the distinguished figures
we are meeting in Washington, such as Dave Shear,
the Director of the State Department's China Desk,
are also IUP alums.
I write this to remind you that you are in good
company in IUP, and that like other IUP alumni, you
could also go far. Maybe not all of you will strive to
Charles Laughlin, Director become quot;public intellectuals,quot; but you have the
potential because of your unique combination of
specialized expertise and advanced Chinese language
Dear IUP’ers: ability, potential to bridge important gaps in an
especially important era for U.S.-China relations.
I'm writing you tonight from Washington D.C. to
kick off this year's first IUP newsletter, and I think I hope the semester is going well for you, and I hope
the 7th issue since I came on to IUP last year. I want this newsletter is useful and informative. If you have
to thank Vivian Li for taking the initiative to help put any suggestions for how we can make it better, please
this issue together; I think she has done a terrific job! let us know!
I'm in Washington for the first intensive set of Washington D.C.
meetings of the National Committee on U.S.-China October 5, 2008
Relations' Public Intellectuals Program (PIP). I'm a
member of the second cohort of 20 scholars in the
second round of this two-year program, which brings
political scientists, economists, historians, literature
scholars, and non-academics working in the business Inside: + Update from Recent Alumnus
and NGO worlds—all of whom specialize in China—
together to explore ways to engage vigorously with + IUP Day Trip to Cuandixia
+ Teaching Chinese in the U.S.
+ Murderball

2. Alumni Profile writing and post several comments weekly, never
forgetting to include my name and contact
information at the bottom of each post. There were
even times when I walked directly into a company's
office wearing a suit and tie with nothing but my
resume in hand, a smile on my face, and the name of a
manager that I found while researching the company
on the internet.
In the end, every single one of these tactics
worked at least once. I received offers from some of the
biggest multinationals as well as several China-focused
boutique consultancies. I decided to accept a highly
selective summer internship with Accenture
(www.accenture.com) in Beijing followed by a full-
Joel Backaler
time position at Atos Origin (www.atosorigin.com) in
the fall, also based in Beijing.
The following is a modified version of an email sent to My Current Position:
Professor Laughlin from Joel Backaler, IUP 2007-08:
Atos Origin holds the world's largest sports-
Dear Friends and Colleagues, related IT contract as a global IT partner and top
sponsor for the Olympic Games. I currently work as
I hope this message finds you well. I am the only non-Chinese analyst for Atos Consulting's
writing to update you about my post-graduation financial transformation division in Beijing. Our main
activities and to tell you more about the path I have focus is restructuring poorly-run Chinese state-owned
taken to secure my current position at Atos Origin in enterprises to the point where they are financially
Beijing. Most importantly, I am writing to express my healthy enough to be listed on overseas stock
gratitude to each one of you for your invaluable help exchanges.
over the course of my journey so far. It took invaluable help from each of you to get
me to this point in my career. I want to offer a special
Post-Grad Initial Goals & Accomplishments: thanks to Peter in Beijing, James in Taipei and
especially Marc in Boston. The three of you have been
I graduated from college in May 2006 wonderful mentors to me. I truly appreciate
determined to prepare myself to conduct business in everyone's continued support and guidance. It will
China without relying on translators. To attain this take all of your insight and advice to help me succeed
goal I have spent the past two years in Asia, first as a as a businessman in the China marketplace.
Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan, and then as a full-time
student at the IUP Center at Beijing's Tsinghua
University, the world's most prestigious advanced
Chinese language training center.
By spring 2008 I met my goal of achieving
business Chinese fluency and assembled a resume I am
very proud of. At that point I faced two major Mark Your Calendars!
challenges: first, to secure a full-time consulting
position; second, to obtain a work visa. IUP Fall Trip to Luoyang
October 17-20
Finding a Job
IUP Lecture Series: Lila Buckley
On Wednesday, October 29, IUP’s own Lila Buckley
For a three-month period I drank coffee with any
will discuss environmental NGOs in China
business professional willing to talk to me, and
attended every networking event in Beijing from
IUP Lecture Series: CHEN Dong
American Chamber of Commerce mixers to Yale Club
On Thursday, October 30, Beijing University’s (PhD
Beijing Sunday brunches. If I found out a potential
Indiana U.) economics professor Chen Dong will talk
employer wrote a blog, I made a point to follow their
about China’s current economic situation
2

3. Sightseeing
爨底下村)
爨底下村
Cuandixia Village (爨底下村
美国一年
李耘, IUP 老师
每年派两至三名老师去美国大学进行为期一年的
教学实习，这在 IUP 已经有 10 年的历史。我们的
学生大部分来自美国的大学，因此老师们通过去
美国大学教学，可以对学生学习和生活的环境有
所了解。这 10 年来，和我们合作的大学大都是
IUP 董事会的成员学校，例如耶鲁大学、康奈尔
大学、斯坦福大学等。出国实习的老师回到 IUP
On September 13, IUP’ers visited Cuandixia, an old village outside Beijing
以后，除了个人教学经验的增加，也为整个项目
带来更大的发展。
2007 年 9 月至 2008 年 5 月，我很荣幸地被派
往哈佛大学实习。在教学方面，IUP 的经验对我
帮助很大，但也有不少需要从头了解和学习的地
方，例如美国大学中文课从入学考试到学期成绩
的整个过程，以及教学方法中不同于 IUP 的地
方。我很高兴了解到学生在进入 IUP 之前的中文
学习环境，也因此思考有哪些方法是值得 IUP 借
鉴的。除了教学，IUP 也要求实习老师参加一些
在美国举行的学术会议，例如全美中文教师学会
（CLTA）年会等，这对老师了解行业情况、拓
展专业视野非常有帮助。
Annie Jonas, Charles Laughlin, Liu Yuming, Justin Knapp, & Sharon
Nakhimovsky enjoy the fresh mountain air after the successful hike up 对于我个人来说，这一年也是认识、欣赏和
享受美国的好机会，藏品丰富的博物馆、壮丽的
自然风光、街边的小咖啡馆，都是让我久久难忘
的经历。
The IUPeople Newsletter is published monthly by the Inter-
University Program for Chinese Language Studies. Wen Bei
Lou, 502, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China 100084.
Visit us on the web at:
http://ieas.berkeley.edu/iup
Editor-in-chief: Charles Laughlin
Managing Editor: Vivian Li
Ben Roth & Alan Gaskill serenade the teachers on the bus ride back 3

4. Photo: Brian Nichols
A Night of Murderball
by Robert O’Brien
On September 16, a spirited group of nearly 30
IUP students, alumni and friends attended the gold
and bronze medal wheelchair rugby matches of the
2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. Having already Qie zi!: Enthused group of compatriots pose in front of gymnasium
watched Murderball, an award-winning 2005
documentary on Team USA’s participation in the
Athens Paralympic wheelchair rugby finals, the IUP
crew arrived at Beijing Science & Technology
University’s gymnasium well-prepared for the
combination of grace and brutality that defines the
sport. Neither the games nor the atmosphere
disappointed, as the furious pace of the contest was
matched only by the raucousness of the crowd. IUP’ers
more than did their part to cheer on the athletes,
Photo: Brian Nichols
donning patriotic attire and orchestrating many a
group cheer. A few crazed fans even removed their
shirts, painted the characters “美国加油” on their
chests, and riled up the fans with large group chants.
Thankfully, America did not let down the many
supporters they had in attendance, taking home the Adding Oil: Bobby O’Brien, Ben Roth, Alex Wald, Jared
gold in impressive fashion, scoring 53 goals to Glanzberger, and Charles Loi cheer Team USA on to victory
Australia’s 44.
Following the conclusion of the medal
ceremony, many IUP’ers stuck around to meet the U.S.
squad, a group who turned out to be quite cordial and
grateful for the support of their adoring fans. With 生
词 to memorize and 句型 to study, everyone headed
home around 11 p.m. satisfied with the outcome of the
Photo/caption: Genevieve Cheng
event and inspired by the courage and skill displayed
by those who participated in it.
Photo: Brian Nichols
Wheelchair Gladiators: Will Groulx (Team USA, #10) yells in
Photo: Brian Nichols
agony after having just fallen a few centimeters short from
crossing the goal line during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic
Wheelchair Rugby Gold Medal Match
4