Mike Chinoy at TAS
By Josephine Jung, Class of 2012
A leading American journalist who witnessed China’s crackdown on Tiananmen Square protestors will come to Taipei American School as the first Joanna Nichols Visiting Scholar.
Mr. Chinoy will be at Taipei American School from October 17 through November 11, and his time will be spent working with students by sharing his experiences. “My goal is to be as helpful as I can to as many different classes, teachers, and students as I can. I expect to be spending some time in the classroom, especially for history and current affairs classes. In short— any setting where it seems as if my background and experiences will be helpful is where I hope to be spending my time,” he said.
Dr. Hartzell, upper school principal, said Mr. Chinoy is the ideal scholar from whom the students can take much from. “He is one of the top journalists in the world and has a large variety of experience, and we are very fortunate to have him here for four weeks,” he said.
Mr. Chinoy said he hopes students will take a growing interest in what is happening around the world and start to think in new ways. “The world is becoming an increasingly complex, inter-connected place, and the need to better understand what is happening across the globe, and how it can affect one's own life, has only become more important. I hope I will be able to encourage students to get more excited about—and engaged—in understanding history, current affairs, journalism, and the dramatic changes in communications technology that are shrinking borders and turning all of us into ‘global citizens’,” he said.
Mr. Chinoy hopes that students will learn to address global issues with the ability to keep an open mind, interact with people from many different backgrounds and viewpoints, and weigh evidence and information fairly and honestly, putting ones' own biases aside.
In his career as a journalist, Mr. Chinoy said that he has had the privilege of seeing history in the making. “One of the great privileges of my career as a journalist was the opportunity to have a front-row seat at many of the historic events which have shaped the world in the past 30 years. The dramatic changes in China, Taiwan’s transformation into a democracy, the Gulf War, the war in Afghanistan, elections, summit meetings, natural disasters, sports events— you name it —I got to see it.”
Mr. Chinoy's journalistic career was not without danger and hardship. He said, “I dodged my fair share of bullets - in Lebanon, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. It is not a conventional career - but I wouldn't have missed it for anything!”