Jay Chen
AFTER THE COLD WAR: EASTERN EUROPE, CENTRAL ASIA, RUSSIA AND CHINA

JAY DIANSHIN CHEN served as a University English Teacher at East Kazakhstan State University in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005, where he double majored in Political Science and Legal Studies, focusing primarily on East Asian politics and international relations.

Two weeks after graduation, he boarded a plane for Kazakhstan as a Peace Corps volunteer. From 2005-2008 he worked in northeastern Kazakhstan, teaching English to local students, teachers, and other members of the community. In addition to teaching, he established local English discussion clubs and movie clubs. At East Kazakhstan State University, Chen instituted numerous projects that were later added to the curriculum, including TOEFL courses and Academic Essay and Composition Writing courses. He also established “The Sun” newspaper with students, creating the first independent student-created English newspaper in the region. After extending his stay to a third year in Kazakhstan, Jay focused his work on women's development in the surrounding villages, creating a student volunteer corps, and completing building a media and resource library with East Kazakhstan State University.

Now at University of California, Hastings, Jay is studying law with an interest in International Law and Public Interest Law. He is currently the President of the Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation, and still regularly does public lectures about his experiences in Kazakhstan as UC Berkeley and with the San Francisco Peace Corps Recruiting Office.