Yuansheng Huang, Former Visiting Scholar at the Law School
Which program/department were you in?
Law School
What was your primary area of research?
My academic interests were centered around public law and information privacy law.
Which country (or countries) did you come from?
China.
How long were you in the U.S.?
1 year.
Tell us about your research.
I focused mainly on how the government collects, aggregates, analyses, and uses our personal information. My goal has been to keep agencies' handling of our information under legal control in each respect while keeping the government more transparent and the citizens more opaque. As we all know, the government is deploying information technology everyday. For example, cameras are everywhere. We will be different if the Big Brother in the novel 1984 is watching us everyday. Thus, we need to transform the power differentials between government and citizen. That is what a real free world should be like.
How did you like your J-1 Exchange Visitor Program?
I really enjoyed being a part of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program. I was inspired by the students, staff, and visiting scholars in different majors at Columbia. I experienced diverse voices and joined fun events and activities on the campus everyday, which gave me a sense of belonging to the Columbia community. I hope I can soon revisit Columbia someday.
What do you know now that you wish you knew before coming here?
If you hate someone, send them to New York, because it's hell; if you love someone, send them to New York, because it's paradise.
What are your hobbies and interests?
Outside of my research, I loved playing basketball in Dodge Center with my friends, especially playing the intramural games with my teammates at Dunkin's Bagel. I also play tennis on a weekly basis at Riverside Park. Besides that, I enjoyed exploring hidden gems like the Strand Bookstore in the Big Apple. As a typical ENFJ person, meeting different people and sharing fun experiences with each other is also one of my favorite things.
What was the hardest part about living here?
I think the hardest part was finding the proper Chinese/East Asian food everyday around the campus because seemingly none of the dining halls of Columbia provide them. So I wish the dining halls could add some popular Chinese/East Asian food onto the menu. I believe all of us from East Asia will love to visit dining halls more often than before.
Connect with Yuansheng on Instagram.
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