Funded by the “Observe China” International Scholars Program of the Center for China and Foreign People-to-People Exchange, Ministry of Education, Ms. Sharon Crain, an American scholar, social activist, Senior Advisor to the Helen Foster Snow Foundation, and recipient of the Sanqin Friendship Award, and Dr. Sandi Mond, a senior American educator, visited SFL at 2 p.m. on September 2 and jointly gave a lecture titled “Helen Foster Snow: A Bridge-Builder Between China and the U.S.” The lecture was hosted by Professor Cao Ruonan, Dean of SFL.
Helen Foster Snow was an important figure in China-U.S. people-to-people friendship in the 20th century. She lived in China in the 1930s and wrote a series of works objectively reporting on China’s revolution and construction, making a unique contribution to Western understanding of China. Ms. Crain worked with Helen Foster Snow for many years and once served as her assistant. Drawing on personal experience and precious historical memories, she reviewed Helen Snow’s years in China and her subsequent unremitting efforts to promote mutual understanding between China and the U.S. She noted that Helen Snow not only faithfully recorded important changes in 20th-century Chinese society but also promoted dialogue and understanding between different cultures and peoples through concrete actions. The spirit of people-to-people exchange she represented remains highly relevant today.
As the author of Witnessing Great Changes: Contemporary China Through the Eyes of an American Woman, Ms. Crain also shared her observations of China’s social development based on decades of engagement with China, stressing the important role of people-to-people and cultural exchange in dispelling misunderstandings, enhancing mutual trust, and sustaining grassroots friendship.
Dr. Sandi Mond, from the perspective of educational exchange, reviewed her practical experience promoting cooperation and exchange between Chinese and American schools during her work in school education and administration in Connecticut, and introduced teacher-student exchanges, inter-school cooperation, and related education programs. Based on years of frontline educational experience, she discussed the positive role of school education in cultivating cross-cultural understanding, broadening international horizons, and promoting youth exchange.
During the interactive session, the two guests held in-depth exchanges with students on China-U.S. cultural differences, educational experience, career development, and youth growth, encouraging the younger generation to stay open-minded, deepen their understanding of diverse cultures through study and practice, and actively engage in China-foreign people-to-people and cultural exchange.
Ms. Crain has deep and long-standing ties with Northwest University. In earlier years, she participated in establishing the China-U.S. Friendship Monument on the east side of West Campus Building. Its inscription, “One generation plants the trees, another enjoys the shade,” expresses her earnest hope that China-U.S. grassroots friendship would be passed on from generation to generation. On this return to campus, she made a special trip to the monument to recall related memories with faculty and students. The passage of time has added deeper meaning to this visit.
This visit was both a warm retrospective of the history of China-U.S. people-to-people friendship and a valuable opportunity for SFL faculty and students to learn more about China-U.S. people-to-people and cultural exchange. Through face-to-face narration and exchange, memories of friendship across generations were carried forward, injecting new vitality into future academic cooperation, cultural dialogue, and youth exchange.
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