Zhisheng Ivy Deng
Anthropology & Comparative Literature & French & Fine Arts
Why did you choose Cornell?
I came to Cornell specifically for the five-year concurrent degree program between the College of Architecture, Art and Planning and the College of Arts & Sciences. This opportunity has allowed me to pursue a rigorous art as well as liberal arts education.
Who or what influenced your Cornell education the most? How or why?
My time spent abroad provided me invaluable opportunities to experience, if not to understand, differences. In France, I conducted fieldwork about Sinophone Evangelical communities; in Morocco, I started learning both Modern Standard Arabic and Moroccan Arabic. These experiences profoundly shaped my education, academic interests, and life trajectory.
If you were to offer advice to an incoming first year student, what would you say?
Learn new languages, go abroad, challenge your own stituatedness.
