Xiaojin “Jin” Niu, a doctoral student in Educational Theatre, will be supporting the Theatre Practices study away program as course assistant this January. The program, led by Amy Cordileone, will mark Jin’s second time participating in Steinhardt-sponsored study abroad. In summer 2019, she participated as a student enrolled in the Community-Engaged Theatre program in Dublin, Ireland.
Jin came to NYU Steinhardt as an international student from Jinan, China with several years of teaching experience. We asked her to tell us more about what attracted her to the School and share perspectives as an international student and study abroad participant.
What program are you enrolled in?
I am an Ed.D. student and M.A. graduate of the Educational Theatre program at Steinhardt. What we do here is to explore the possibilities of applying theatre in educational and social domains. We study how to teach theatre as a curriculum in K-12. We study how to use theatre to bring communities together. We also produce a wide range of theatre genres, through which we want to present, question, and reflect our realities. The Ed.D. (Doctor of Education) program that I am in emphasizes leadership and the practical goal of doing educational theatre research. My current research interest, accordingly, is about developing and testing drama in education curriculum with Chinese teachers.
Why did you take the Community-Engaged Theatre course in Ireland? What did you learn from the experience?
As an international student in America, I know what it’s like to “study abroad.” But I also knew that what I learned about educational theatre here was inevitably just situated in the American context. So the need to enrich my study with a wider worldview urged me to go for this opportunity, to study in Ireland. I was intrigued by the ways in which the Irish theatre practitioners positioned themselves in their micro local communities as well as today’s macro environment of Ireland. Their different and insightful perspectives about theatre art, workshop facilitation, and inclusiveness refreshed or challenged my ideas acquired in the past years. I can see that my personal and intellectual growth was nourished by new perspectives. For me, this is the most significant part of this study away experience.
How are you preparing for the Theatre Practices course this January?
This program, Theatre Practices in Puerto Rico is another study away opportunity developed by the Educational Theatre program. This will be a two-week intensive program. The NYU students will work closely with the Puerto Rico-based theatre practitioners. We have big group classes focusing on applied theatre, such as Theatre of the Oppressed. The students will also choose their own main focus from the two options: physical theatre or masks and puppetry. I personally think the best part of this program is that we will be able to take our theatre works to the streets and let our art be a part of the life there.
To prepare to be a qualified course assistant, I’ve been taking the Education Abroad Practicum class this semester. In this class, we covered a lot of important topics about studying in unfamiliar places, from statistics to stories, from pedagogies to protocols. My biggest takeaway that I want to share here is about “global citizenship” and “intercultural maturity.” I think that to study away is to allow ourselves to see, to feel, and to reflect on differences in other parts of the world, so that we can also rethink our own beings in this world. For this purpose, I hope I can do more for future development of the study away programs.
Is there anything else you'd like the NYU Steinhardt community to know about you or your work?
I appreciate and value this opportunity to talk about my experiences of studying away. I used to have a lot of hesitation about studying abroad with NYU since I’m an international student already. But my experience in Ireland proved that it’s worth doing. In this semester, because of the practicum class, I’ve been thinking a lot about globalization and education. The world is changing rapidly, which creates too many uncertainties for our future. However, what’s certain is, borrowing Freire’s idea, the “praxis,” to be fully human. This means that we need to both act, reflect, and dialogue with one another in order to achieve greater understanding and courage to live for a better reality. In that sense, studying away is a good opportunity for us to realize that. I hope more students who are interested in developing a “global citizenship” will know that these opportunities are there and that they are accessible to us.
Why did you choose to study educational theatre?
I had been studying screenwriting and playwriting at Communication University of China in Beijing. When I was a sophomore there, I went to volunteer teach at a rural school in Northwest China, which later became a milestone in my life. I worked with 12 amazing students to put a full-length show on stage. The contrast between the passion of the children learning theatre and their limited situation struck me and pushed me to pursue a career in both theatre and education. This was the beginning of my theatre educator’s journey. I came to our Educational Theatre program as a master’s student in 2014. Luckily, I’ve been doing and loving it till now. I also understand that it’s a privilege for me to study what I love at an institution like NYU, which one day will lead me to go back to the community like that rural school.