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Beyond Bias

One small-town boy's journey to understanding the greater world

By Xie Yi Updated Sept.20

Born and raised in Wyalusing, a farming town in Pennsylvania, Eric Shaw had little knowledge of China. What he did know came from the media. But after studying Chinese, traveling to China and experiencing the country first hand, Shaw found that his earlier impressions about China and its culture were based in stereotype.

This April, Shaw participated in the Third Annual Chinese Storytelling Contest at Brown University with an essay, Rural kids in Ivy League Schools, about his personal experiences and the dangers of stereotyping.
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