The Enduring Value of Studying in China: A Conversation with the HNC’s Adam Webb.

About this episode

Scott Kennedy interviews Adam Webb about the unique aspects of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and its role in fostering international understanding.

In this episode of China Field Notes, Scott Kennedy talks with Adam Webb, Co-Director of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. Drawing on Kennedy’s own experience as an HNC student and Webb’s long tenure on the faculty, they discuss what makes the Center unique in the landscape of international higher education institutions and how this dual-language, dual-university model fosters exchange and mutual understanding. Webb also reflects on how the Center has navigated political shifts, the pandemic, and growing skepticism towards engagement, while preserving academic freedom and open dialogue. The conversation concludes with a discussion of shifting national identities in the United States and China, how these dynamics are felt on campus and in the classroom, and the importance of broadening debates beyond the two countries. Adam K Webb is Co-Director of the Hopkins-Nanjing Centre (HNC), where he also serves as Resident Professor of Political Science. He has been a faculty member since 2008. He previously taught at Princeton and Harvard and was a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research interests cut broadly across political thought, globalization, and…

People in this episode

Host: Scott Kennedy

Guest: Adam Webb

Topics covered

• international education
• China studies
• academic freedom
• political shifts
• cultural exchange

Keywords

• Hopkins-Nanjing Center
• Scott Kennedy
• Adam Webb
• international education
• academic freedom
• political shifts
• cultural exchange

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Princeton, Harvard, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

More episodes of China Field Notes – with Scott Kennedy

• History from Below: Harvard’s Michael Szonyi on Fieldwork, History, and U.S.-China Relations · December 11, 2025 · 54 min
• China’s Economic Progress and Challenges: A Conversation with Leading Chinese Economist Yao Yang · November 25, 2025 · 50 min
• Crossing Worlds: Han Shen Lin on Leadership, Finance, and U.S.-China Relations · October 22, 2025 · 34 min
• Field Research and Governance in Xi’s China: Reflections from Middlebury’s Jessica Teets · October 8, 2025 · 1h 1m
• Innovation and Involution: A Conversation with CSIS’s Scott Kennedy · September 24, 2025 · 41 min
• Reporting on China’s Age of Uncertainty: A Conversation with CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng · September 9, 2025 · 51 min