Education

April 11, 2025 0

Northeastern Prof.: Better to Speak Out Now

As international students nationwide are facing deportation threats and canceled visas for their political activism, and universities are under pressure to prevent campus protests and end some diversity initiatives, some professors are taking a stand against the crackdowns and political influences. Among those speaking out is Alexandra To, an assistant professor at Northeastern University, who cowrote an Op-Ed this week in the university paper, The Huntington News, along with professors Kylie Ariel Bemis, Rahul Bhargava, Richard Daynard, Rachel Rosenbloom, and […]

March 21, 2025 0

‘Cracking’ the Code: Boston Researcher Jing-Ke Weng Aims to Use Plant Science, AI to Unlock Mystery of Peanut Allergies

by Esther Wang

The peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergies in the world, and yet there is still much that we don’t understand about it. This puzzle is precisely what researcher Jing-Ke Weng, a professor of chemistry and bioengineering at Northeastern University, is aiming to solve. In an interview with the Sampan, Weng revealed more about his research on peanut allergies—what pushed him to pursue this particular subject, the work he’s hoping to achieve, and his research’s potential implications […]

March 21, 2025 0

Nobuko Miyamoto Takes Fight for Rights to Boston Stage

by Harmony Witte

Activist legend Nobuko Miyamoto came to Boston for the ArtsEmerson screening of the documentary about her – “Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement” – and the timing could not have been more appropriate. Amid the anniversary of Executive Order 9066 – which led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II – and just before immigration authorities began coming after pro-Palestinian protesters, Nobuko Miyamoto graced the stage and enraptured the audience by performing a set of four of […]

March 21, 2025 0

Before Khalil and Countless Others, There Was Fred Dube

by Adam Smith

“The fear and silencing on college campuses today is not arbitrary or new,” wrote Abena Ampofoa Asare, an associate professor of Modern African Affairs at Stony Brook University, in an essay titled, “The Silencing of Fred Dube,” published last year in the Boston Review. This might be a surprise for those who are just now realizing the relationship between censorship and speaking out for Palestine, after seeing the news of immigration officials detaining Columbia University Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. Others […]

March 21, 2025 0

Congress Should Tackle Health, Food Costs, Asians Tell Pollsters

by Adam Smith

The growing costs of healthcare, grocery bills and housing are top concerns for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults – and they want Congress to address all three.That was a key takeaway from a new AAPI Data/AP-NORC Poll of Congressional priorities for Asian and Pacific Islander adults. According to the survey published earlier this month, the price of health care was the top issue for nearly 8 out of 10 people who identify as AAPI. Food inflation came […]

March 21, 2025 0

How Students Abroad View U.S. Under Trump’s Visa Crackdowns

by Darren Liu

The second administration of U.S. Pres. Donald Trump has begun cracking down on immigration, abruptly shortening temporary protective status for Haitians and others fleeing violence, and is now trying to deport a well-known Palestinian rights activist at Columbia University – with threats to cancel visas of many more. How is this news shaping the views of students and graduates around the world who have helped fund America’s colleges and universities in Boston and beyond through tuition? Our Sampan reporter based […]

March 21, 2025 0

Editorial: Bill to Stop China Student Visas Is Xenophobic

by Editorial

In the apparent race toward making xenophobia official U.S. policy, a small group of Republican lawmakers is cheering a bill that would bar Chinese international students from the U.S. Congressman Riley M. Moore of West Virginia, who in a press release calls his bill “groundbreaking,” promises the proposal would stop the issuance of student visas to Chinese nationals. The bill’s name is juvenile sounding – “The Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act” and its primary […]

March 21, 2025 0

This War on Immigrants and Minorities Is Personal

by Milourdes Augustin

I was 8 years old when I came to the U.S. with my family from Haiti. When I was 16 years old, my parents bought a house on the South Shore. Weeks later, my siblings and I found fliers left on our lawn from the KKK, which was recruiting people to join a planned rally. When we arrived at school, some of our classmates brought in the same fliers, which were left on their lawns, too. The summer of my […]

March 21, 2025 0

Facing the Scars That Never Heal in Lu Xinhua’s Novel, ‘Wu Lou’

by Christopher John Stephens

Writer Lu Xinhua was just 24-years old in 1978 when he published his breakthrough short story, “The Scar.” Written while a freshman at Fudan University, “The Scar” examined the traumatic legacy of the Cultural Revolution and the decisive, imperious rule of the Gang of Four. In the wake of Mao’s death, China found itself at a crossroads. There was the Beijing Spring, the New Enlightenment, and “Scar Literature” was at the vanguard of what came to be known as a […]

March 21, 2025 0

Dangerous Chemicals Said to Lurk Inside Black Plastics Used in Toys, Utensils, Trays

by Darren Liu

A shocking research study published in Chemosphere late last year revealed a public danger hidden in plain sight: toxic chemicals are present in most if not all black plastics, including fast-food containers, kitchen utensils, children’s toys, and more. That study’s finding have made headlines recently again — after its authors issued a correction that they say does not change their initial concerns about the risk to people who use the plastics. The research comes at a time when health concerns […]

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