“How do the Asian cities deal with the land sinking and sea level rising?” A 10th-grade student from Lansing High School leaned forward from his seat and asked about the solution for Asian sinking cities. Glad that the students were concerned about the Asian ecological crises, I explained possible solutions with cases of Indonesia’s project of moving its capital from Jakarta to Nusantara and China’s project of sponge cities. This was the Q&A session of my guest lecture on “Living with Ecologies in Asia: Pasts and Presents” at Lansing High School this March, taught by Dan Ferguson.

This meaningful opportunity for me was organized by Kathi Colen Peck from the Einaudi Center and Colin Peterson from SEAP. Inspired by Dan’s dedication to connecting Lansing students to the broader world, I joined Professor Chris Barrett, Dr. Abdul Chang, and Francine Barchett — fellow SEAP affiliates — in volunteering for guest lectures. Thanks to Kathi’s encouragement and travel reimbursement, I was able to give the lecture in person and tour around the high school with Dan. 

I was genuinely moved by the students’ curiosity. The eyes of a girl lit up when I read the biographical writing of Nawab Sikandar Begum, a female ruler of British India who sailed for Hajj. A student in the back enthusiastically responded in a loud voice —“Singapore” and “Tokyo” — when I asked the class to choose cities in the interactive maps of sea level rise. A boy in the first row asked about the early modern sunken ships in the South China Sea after the lecture ended, “Have you seen them yourself?” A teacher from Lansing High School, interested in the soundtracks of merchant ships that I played to show ecological threats to marine animals, shared her knowledge of sea noises caused by buoy movements. 

As I waved goodbye to Dan that day, I felt deeply grateful. It was cheerful to know that my knowledge could serve as a bridge between young people in a classroom in Lansing and places across the Pacific Ocean.