On October 17, 2025, Teachers College hosted “Insights Across Generations: Hawai‘i as the Meeting Point of East and West,” a hybrid event bringing together scholars, educators, and community members to explore educational exchange across generations and cultures. CCS Acting Director Professor. Baoyan Cheng and Associate Director Dr. Ni Zhang participated in the event. The session featured two keynote speeches and a panel discussion highlighting both historic perspectives and personal narratives.
The event began with a keynote by Professor Baoyan Cheng, Acting Director of the UH Center for Chinese Studies. Professor Cheng examined the history and future of U.S.–China educational exchanges, offering a cosmopolitan vision for mutual learning and shared human advancement.
Following this, Professor Yunxiang Gao of Toronto Metropolitan University shared the remarkable story of Soo Yong, a Chinese American actress born in Hawai‘i, revealing the opportunities and constraints of transnational identity through an individual lens.
The afternoon continued with a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Ni Zhang featuring three distinguished speakers:
Dr. Robert Young, a native of Hawai‘i with roots in Zhongshan, shared his family’s journey across educational and cultural boundaries, illustrating the transition from East to West within a single generation.
Dr. Amanda K. Earl, Assistant Professor at Teachers College, highlighted the vital role of families and communities in transmitting knowledge, heritage languages, and cultural values across generations.
Dr. Henan Cheng, Executive Director of the Center on Chinese Education at TC, discussed ongoing initiatives to promote international educational exchange and future plans to strengthen cross-cultural learning.
The panel discussion provided an engaging dialogue between scholars and practitioners exploring how policies and institutions promote mutual learning rather than one-way adaptation, what lessons from transnational women’s lives help build cultural bridges today, how families and communities sustain cross-cultural understanding, and how educational centers can advance collaboration amid digital transformation and shifting geopolitics.
The event concluded with an interactive Q&A session, providing attendees the opportunity to engage directly with the speakers and reflect on the profound connections between personal stories, educational theory, and cultural exchange.
This gathering not only highlighted the unique role of Hawai‘i as a meeting point of East and West but also underscored the enduring importance of cross-generational learning and intercultural dialogue.
