Newswise — More than 70 million people are expected to visit the USA Pavilion at this summer’s World Expo in Shanghai. Chances are, many of these visitors will be welcomed – in Mandarin – by an USC student.
As part of the Student Ambassador Internship Program, run by the USC U.S.-China Institute on behalf of the USA Pavilion, students from 38 states nationwide have been selected to serve as national representatives and guides at the USA Pavilion. USC will send more student ambassadors to the USA Pavilion than any other school in the nation.
“This Expo is an opportunity for the United States to put its best foot forward, not just with its message, but with its messengers,” said Clayton Dube, associate director of the U.S.-China Institute, who oversaw the student recruitment and selection process.
As USA Pavilion Commissioner-General Jose Villerreal told Foreign Policy: “I am particularly proud that Chinese and foreign guests will be greeted by 160 Mandarin-speaking American college students working as ‘Pavilion Student Ambassadors.’ Drawn from across the United States, from schools small and large, they will add a friendly human touch to America’s representation at the Expo.”
Over the course of the exposition, which runs from May 1 to October 31, 2010, USA Pavilion student ambassadors will stay in an Expo “village” with representatives from other countries. In addition to having exemplary academic records, USA Pavilion student ambassadors are required to speak fluent Mandarin and to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
“When Obama was elected, it showed the world America’s openness. I think the student ambassadors will reinforce this understanding of the United States and demonstrate our diversity,” said USA Pavilion ambassador Ying Jia Huang ’10, a triple-major in International Relations, History and East Asian Languages and Culture.
Unlike the Olympics, which projected images of China out to the world in a made-for-TV spectacle, this year’s World Fair is a platform for other nations to present themselves to the Chinese masses directly, without the intervention of intermediaries, Dube explained.
The USA Pavilion — a $61 million, multi-level complex featuring “4D” exhibits, movie screenings and performances from musical legends — anchors one end of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, which will include pavilions from more than 190 countries and 50 international organizations designed by some of the world’s most prominent architects.
The theme of the 2010 World Expo, expected to be the largest World’s Fair in history, is “Better City – Better Life.”
“Our job [at the U.S.-China Institute] is to illuminate and understand the relationship between the United States and China in all its dimensions,” Dube said. “What better way than to be involved directly in it?”
For the student ambassadors, working at the USA Pavilion is not only an unique opportunity be on the front lines of high-stakes public diplomacy, but they will also see firsthand the workings of the Chinese government and the complex interactions that go into creating large, international events.
“To understand the microcosms of growth, you really have to be there,” said Huang, who will enter a graduate program in Public Policy at USC next year. “Small things and contexts make a lot of difference for students planning to pursue careers with China.”
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