Alum
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January 19, 2021
How Columbia’s ALP Helped this Student to Pursue a Ph.D. in Culture Studies, Make Friends, and Explore NYC’s Rich Arts & Cultural Scene
Xiaolin Sun has had a passion for the fine arts since he was child. In his sophomore year of college, Sun became awe inspired by the ways in which technology had managed to restore and preserve Chinese cultural artifacts, sparking his interest in researching the textiles of East Asia’s ethnic minority groups.
But before he pursued an advanced degree, Sun sought to strengthen his oral and written English and earn competitive TOEFL scores. That led him to Columbia University’s American Language Program; Sun enrolled in the Intensive Academic English Program for three terms and the Advanced Academic Preparation course over a summer. Now, right on the heels of earning an M.A., Sun will continue his academic journey next month at the University of Nottingham, where he will pursue a Ph.D. in Culture Studies to examine how digitization technologies can create integrated representations of ethnic textiles in museums. For Sun, the ALP was a key stepping stone to getting there. He recently spoke about his experience at Columbia and what’s next in his career.