Two University of Virginia scholars will continue their studies at Peking University, a major research institution in Beijing, as Yenching Academy Scholars.

Olivia Moffett of Northern Virginia, an economics and Chinese language and literature double-major who graduated in 2019, and Jacob Libby of Houston, a Spanish and a foreign affairs distinguished majors program student who graduated this spring, are the University’s first Yenching Academy scholars. Scholars receive a full-tuition fellowship for their first year, with the option of applying for a one-year renewal.

Moffett and Libby are part of Yenching Academy’s sixth cohort and will be among 93 scholars from 39 countries and regions who will join with 26 Chinese students to examine China’s past, present and future, with emphasis on China’s development and role in the world, through coursework, independent research and field studies toward a master’s program taught in English. Students live and study in this international cohort, participating in events, opportunities and courses tailored specifically for Yenching Scholars, in including a student-led conference, the Yenching Global Symposium.

The Yenching Academy was established in 2014 to promote the academic study of China beyond traditional humanities and social sciences. During the coronavirus pandemic, Peking University and the academy program have shifted to online learning and are exploring contingencies for the upcoming year.

“I am very excited for Olivia and Jake, the first two graduates of UVA to be admitted to the Yenching Academy,” said Andrus G. Ashoo, director of UVA’s Office of Citizen Scholar Development. “Obviously, this is slightly mixed news, given the year and the circumstances, and we’re hopeful that they will still be able to participate fully in the program. They are impressive young folks with real drive to understand China.”

Olivia Moffett

Moffett, who has lived in China before, plans to explore the effect of Chinese literature and culture on Chinese economic rhetoric.

“This is a relationship that I wondered about frequently throughout my coursework at UVA,” she said. “The topic is especially important considering recently fraught economic relations between the U.S. and China. Examining the influence of language and culture on modern economic rhetoric will clarify the rhetoric itself and the assumptions underlying it, which will help the United States better understand and work with China to solve economic disagreements.”

Moffett started taking Chinese classes on a whim in high school, initially drawn in by a fascination with Chinese calligraphy that developed into a broader interest in Chinese culture.

“After nine years of study and repeated trips to the country, the subject has become dear to my heart and part of my identity,” Moffett said. “It’s not just important to me, though. Understanding China – its culture, history, politics and economy – is becoming more and more vital to succeeding in our increasingly globalized world.”

Moffett visited China twice in high school. As a sophomore, she traveled to Shanghai for a leadership conference, where she discussed solutions to global conflict with students from around the world. In the summer of her junior year, she completed a law internship in Chengdu which involved study at two law firms. She returned again in 2018 as a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholar in Xi’an.

“My main goal for this trip is to deepen my understanding of China through an interdisciplinary lens.”

- Olivia Moffett

Moffett said at the same time, I’m looking forward to connecting with the students and locals in Beijing who can introduce me to alternative perspectives.

Moffett eventually wants to perform research and analyses on pressing China-related questions.

“After graduation, I want to engage myself in work that strengthens the analytical skills I have built as a researcher,” she said. “Right now, I envision myself pursing law school or another doctoral degree. This will give me a subject-matter expertise that I can pair with my Yenching Academy studies and use to write more informed research. I’ve been a generalist in China studies for a long time now, which definitely has its benefits, but would like to narrow my focus in the future.”

Moffett is looking to better understand the future of China in the world.

“This is a really exciting time to be a China scholar, but it can also be challenging,” she said. “The whole world has turned its eyes to China in an effort to anticipate how the country will shape our collective future. As a result, there is a new abundance of research about the future of China. I want to contribute to this discourse, but in a way that is uniquely helpful for readers. Yenching Academy’s creative approach to educating its students will help me do that.”

Moffett said she is drawn to the Yenching Academy program’s emphasis on exchange of ideas between disciplines and pushing the boundaries of traditional study.

“Students are required to write a research paper related to their concentration, but can take courses from any of the departments,” Moffett said. “Having already studied China through the lenses of literature and economics, this customizable program is the perfect opportunity for me to combine my existing knowledge with lessons from the history, politics and philosophy disciplines.”

Anne Kinney, chair of UVA’s Department of Asian Languages, Literature and Culture, thinks Moffett exemplifies everything that is “great about UVA students.”

“Olivia Moffett stands out for her keen intelligence, her ability to ask important questions and generate fruitful discussion, her amazing work ethic and her unfailingly warm and courteous manner,” Kinney said. “She is one of the hardest-working students I have met at UVA, and part of her success is the result of her prodigious organizational skills that allow her to excel in many different fields.”

After graduation, Moffett was a summer economics intern at the federal Office of Management and Budget, after which she worked for a consulting firm focusing on finance and corporate real estate. She also works as a real estate agent.

At UVA, Moffett enjoyed participating in student self-governance, both as president of her first-year dorm association, then as a general member of the Second Year Council. She was an editor at the Virginia Undergraduate Law Review, and a member of the Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity. 

Jacob Libby

Libby, who will study for a master’s degree in China studies, with a concentration in international relations, plans to continue learning Chinese in an immersive environment while building his knowledge of Sino-American relations.

“I plan to focus my research on the impact of [China’s] Belt and Road [international global development] Initiative on Sino-Taiwan relations, which is critical to the U.S., because a potential independence movement in Taiwan is arguably the most likely impetus for military conflict with China. Professor Syaru Shirley Lin’s course on Taiwan and the geopolitical dilemma it presents absolutely fascinated me,” he said.

“While there, I also hope to achieve full proficiency in Chinese, become intimately acquainted with Chinese history, culture and politics, and make many lifelong connections with the stellar faculty and my peers.”

Libby, who majored in Spanish at UVA, has also studied French, Portuguese and Arabic.

“I chose to learn Chinese in the fall of my second year as a challenge,” he said. “Given the sheer difficulty of the language, Chinese is also immensely rewarding.”

At the time, Libby knew little about China and its politics, but they became intertwined quickly.

“In the U.S., relatively few people speak foreign languages, but we expect others to understand both English and our country; it’s partly why we so often misjudge world politics,” he said. “In my experience, learning the language in which another country thinks can be quite helpful in appreciating its political environment, and at a more fundamental level, it demonstrates respect. As a nation we need to make more of an effort to understand China, especially now, and I hope to be a leader in that effort.

“I’ve consistently found that my interest in a language spurs my interest in the politics of where that language is spoken, and I quickly realized just how fascinating Chinese and Taiwanese politics are.”

- Jacob Libby

Libby said on top of that, the U.S.-China relationship may very well be the most important of the 21st century, and I want to be a part of the effort to improve what is a tragically fractured relationship right now.

Libby said the academy will provide him with a comprehensive and innovative education on the Chinese perspective. But he predicted he will also gain other perspectives while there.

“The Yenching cohort is so diverse, I will gain insight into perspectives on China from all around the world,” he said. “I am looking forward to meeting students who share an interest in China and its ever-increasing importance to the global system. They all have such unique backgrounds and perspectives to share, I imagine I’ll learn as much from them as I will in the classroom.

“Lastly, Peking University is China’s premier university, offering the very best resources in the beating heart of Chinese politics and culture. There really is no program out there like this one.”

Syaru Shirley Lin, Compton Visiting Professor in World Politics at UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, taught Libby in her politics seminar, “Taiwan’s China Dilemma,” and said she was impressed by his research and his writing.

“I was so stunned with his first paper about Taiwan’s judicial system that I looked into his background and transcript,” she said. “I then realized he was actually much more focused on Spanish and specifically Brazil, yet still taking Chinese all these years at UVA. Later in the semester, I was a guest speaker in an advanced Chinese class and found him in the class, speaking excellent Chinese.”

Libby acted as Chinese-language University Guide for several first-time international visitors to UVA, in Charlottesville for Lin’s Belt and Road Initiative conference in mid-November for the East Asia Center.

Lin said Yenching Academy is a good fit for Libby, with a strong curriculum that will use his language skills.

“Jacob is not only a talented student, but he is genuinely motivated to learn and explore new subjects, languages and cultures,” she said. “Jacob embodies what the University of Virginia is about – a well-rounded education with a rich student life as a tour guide, swimmer and volunteer that builds character and broadens one’s perspective.”

Sherri Moore, an assistant professor in the McIntire School of Commerce, taught Libby business law and selected him as a teaching assistant.

“Jake was incredibly patient with my more than 600 students per semester and handled every problem swiftly and with a calm demeanor,” she said. “I have never seen him without a smile on his face, despite the academic and extra-curricular challenges he juggles.  He possesses a charm and self-confidence that make him a delight to be around.”

Moore, who admires Libby’s talent with languages, also said he is a good fit for the academy.

“He is not afraid of a challenge and his intellectual curiosity is superior,” she said. “Jake is not only a strong student academically, but he also gives generously of his time to several extra-curricular activities and he is so well respected by his peers that he has often been selected as a leader in these activities.  He shows also incredible discipline in his dedication to the swim club, and coaching swimming, while carrying a very demanding schedule.

“I see Jake not only succeeding at anything he seeks to accomplish, but also as a gift to all of us who will benefit from his desire to make a difference with his life.  He is truly a remarkable young man who makes the world a better place.”

Libby, an Echols Scholar, also received a Catherine F. Underwood Dean’s Scholarship for academic excellence and outstanding public service; a Robert Kent Gooch Dean’s Scholarship, for exhibiting academic excellence and the qualities of a Rhodes Scholar; and a UVA Small Research Grant for completion of a survey experiment in his thesis research.

This will be Libby’s first trip to China.

“The Yenching Academy is such a new and innovative program, I have faith that, in the case of any modifications this fall, it will still be a unique and invaluable experience,” he said. “With the current state of relations between the U.S. and China, I actually think this is a fascinating time to be there and perhaps even an inflection point in the relationship. The Chinese government will be under serious pressure to rejuvenate its breakneck economy while handling the fallout from the pandemic, including a severely disgruntled U.S., and all the while protests for democracy are on the rise. I have no doubt the environment will be dynamic and buzzing.”