Link to purchase tickets: https://luma.com/tj9dmkbo
Date: December 6, 2025
Time: 12 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. U.S. EST
Location: Zoom
Price: $40 USD regular admission / $20 USD discount rate for students and recent graduates (Please e-mail us with your name, school, and graduation year to request the discount rate: nuvoices@protonmail.com)
Note: A Zoom link will be emailed to all registrants one day before the workshop from nuvoices@protonmail.com
In Anglophone media, headlines about China and U.S.-China relations abound. From business executives to social media influencers, many have seized upon the geopolitical juncture and seek to brand themselves as “China experts” to capitalize on the public interest. Yet, much of the commentary centers on the interests of Washington or Beijing, falls into Cold-War binaries, or repeats Orientalist tropes.
How to shift the narrative from the state to the people, from the center to the margins, and to tell stories about the two superpowers across political divisions without losing the moral compass, is a challenging yet urgent task. People whose lives, careers, and identities traverse national and linguistic bounds are uniquely equipped to contribute to this vital public discourse.
In this workshop, we’ll examine the limitations in the dominant discourse on China and learn how to write against and beyond state-centric frameworks. We’ll learn how to overcome hesitation, identify a topic of interest, and work through the process of pitching, research, outlining, and drafting.
Participants are expected to read at least one assigned essay ahead of the workshop, which will be used to discuss how new understandings about politics and society in and between China and the U.S. can emerge from everyday objects and unexpected places. This will be followed by an interactive session to brainstorm topics, either to critique existing coverage or to offer new approaches, as well as a Q&A on public writing.
While the workshop description is framed around China and the U.S., participants are encouraged to go beyond the two countries and apply tools learned from the workshop to regions and subjects of their interest. By the end of the workshop, participants should expect to have at least one essay idea of public interest, related to their professional expertise or lived experience, and directions on how to develop it into a published piece in their own time.
Attendees will also receive a downloadable presentation and video recording.
All proceeds of this workshop will be distributed to our workshop leaders and to support the NüVoices’ ongoing editorial and nonprofit operations. We encourage participants and community members to donate to our Paypal page if you are financially able to support our ongoing initiatives.
About Our Instructor
Dr. Yangyang Cheng is a Research Scholar in Law and Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, where her work focuses on the development of science and technology in China and US‒China relations.
She has published over 90 essays on these and related topics in major outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, MIT Technology Review, and WIRED, and have received several awards from the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Her literary criticism received the 2024 Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing from The Washington Monthly and a 2022 People’s Choice Award from the Los Angeles Review of Books. She is an editor at the Made in China Journal and hosts its 开门见山 | Gateway to Global China podcast.
She is also a co-host, writer, and producer of the award-winning narrative podcast series, Dissident at the Doorstep, from Crooked Media. She served on the inaugural jury for the Baifang Schell Book Prize from Asia Society and has been a judge for the James Beard Journalism Awards. Born and raised in China and trained as a particle physicist, she worked on the Large Hadron Collider for over a decade. This fall, she is a Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.
Suggested Readings
To Outlive Tyranny by Yangyang Cheng, Dissent Magazine
Teaching China in Alabama Prisons in Six Objects by Luke Hein, Made in China Journal
A Date with the Cultural Revolution: Two intellectuals find fear and love at a Trump rally by Q, ChinaFile
Sleep Around Before You Marry An Argument by Tressie McMillan Cottom, Substack
Draft No. 4 by John McPhee, The New Yorker
About NüVoices
NüVoices is an international editorial collective gathering veteran and emerging writers, journalists, translators and artists to celebrate and support the diverse creative work of women and other underrepresented voices/communities working on the subject of China (broadly defined). Founded in 2018 and supported by Patreon donors, NüVoices is an independent not-for-profit organization. The views and opinions expressed by contributors on our platforms do not necessarily reflect those of NüVoices.
We heartily welcome the involvement of people of all genders, including those who identify as non-binary, and the many good men who already support our mission and contribute to our cause. NüVoices is trans-positive.
Our directory of more than 600 international female experts on Greater China is a popular tool for journalists and event organizers and has significantly boosted women and minorities’ representation in media stories and conference programming.
Our twice-monthly podcast regularly features women’s and minorities’ voices on a range of topical issues. The NüVoices Podcast has been named by numerous publications as one of the best podcasts on China today.
Our online magazine NüStories regularly publishes narrative essays, event reviews, articles, multimedia projects and other original content — reaching audiences all around the world.
The submissions form for NüStories online magazine pieces is here.
Connect
Email our board members at nuvoices@protonmail.com
To connect with our community, learn about events and training opportunities and take part in discussions, join our Facebook group. If you’d prefer the curated highlights only, follow our public Facebook page.
Find us on Twitter/X, Bluesky, and Instagram.
Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast on your favourite podcast player. Just search for “NüVoices”.
Support Us
NUVOICES INC is a non-profit charity (EIN number 882135796) established in the United States under the US IRS Code Section 501(c)(3), and, for that reason, donations from persons or entities located in the United States may benefit from tax-deductible status.
You can donate via our Patreon platform. We’d be honoured if you’d consider supporting our work as a patron for as little as $1 a month. Benefits include a custom newsletter, exclusive podcast content, free books, shout-outs on our podcast and one-on-one career development sessions.If you’d prefer to make a one-time donation, please visit our Paypal page or email us at nuvoices@protonmail.com for other options.