CARE: China-America Reel Ecology Program
Cross-cultural storytelling through film and ecology
The China–America Reel Ecology (CARE) program brings students from Northwestern University (NU) and Tongji University (TU) together to explore art, ecology, and the climate crisis. Supported by the Cyrus Tang Foundation, professors J.P. Sniadecki and XiaoFeng Li lead students as they tell bold and original stories across film, sound, video, and installation.
In July 2025, students traveled across China, capturing environmental stories that inspire and challenge new ways of seeing our world by combining creativity, collaboration, and a passion for positive change. CARE goes beyond data and headlines, giving voice to the human and cultural stories that shape our shared environmental future.
CARE in action across china
18 STUDENTS
11 PROVINCES
7 GROUPS/PROJECTS
4 WEEKS
Participating students at Tongji University in Shanghai, China
Professor JP Sniadecki
What inspired you to start the CARE program, and what do you hope students take away from the experience?
My first trip outside the US, which also happened to be my first time in an airplane, was for a Chinese Philosophy program in the summer of 1999, which three Chinese professors at my undergraduate institution Grand Valley State University had recently launched. The experience changed my life, opening my eyes to the dynamism and diversity of contemporary China, as well as forging life-long relationships with amazing people from not only different parts of the country but also, in the case of other international students pursuing degrees in China, from all over the world. In a way, creating the possibility for students from NU to travel to Shanghai so that they and the TU participants can dorm meaningful artistic connections together, the CARE program is one way I am able to reciprocate and "give back” the gift I received from my professors over 25 years ago, which was an entree to China which redirected my entire life to a lifelong engagement as well as an entree to the wider world. Similarly, and especially during a time of growing inwards turns towards nationalism, I hope the students at NU and TU both nurture the connections they have made together so that they too form a lifelong international network of capable and caring individuals - from China, the US, and from all over the world - working towards positive global change at the intersection of art, media, and ecology.
Can you share a moment from this year’s program that felt especially meaningful to you as a mentor?
When the groups of students (consisting of partnerships of both NU and TU students together) launched into the actual production of their collaborative projects, our CARE program WeChat group suddenly became flooded with exciting images of their work together. It was incredible and uplifting to witness how they all jumped right into their art-making together. You could feel the excitement through the images and texts - the teams were focused, “all-in,” and having a blast co-creating together!
What do you think is most valuable about creating space for young artists to experiment and learn outside traditional academic settings?
There are so many valuable outcomes from creating space for young artists to experiment and learn, together, outside traditional academic settings. One is that it fosters innovation and new perspectives. If we continue to compel students to employ the same traditional approaches to storytelling, filmmaking, and knowledge production, we simply foreclose the opportunity for emerging artists to imagine and develop new forms and practices that are necessary for transformative contributions to how we understand ecology, the human condition, and the changing climate.
STUDENT EXPERIENCES
“It was interesting to try and portray ecology outside of the typical statistics and policy. Working with my partners from Tongji University , I learned so much about how art can make the climate crisis feel so much more personal. Our collaboration really challenged me to listen more deeply, and to experiment with all new forms of media. It was definitely one of the most transformative experiences of my graduate education."
— Shawn Antoine II, Northwestern University Student
"Working with someone from a different culture was something new for me, and honestly, there was some trial and error in our filmmaking process. We learned how to tell stories in ways I’d never thought about. In the experiences, I ended up with a project I’m proud of, and a collaborator that I hope to work with again."
— Li Tianyue, Tongji University Student
“Questions that all of our groups grappled with included how to portray the scope and sheer gravity of the climate crisis, and how to convey the sense of loss and change that ecological disasters have caused and continue to threaten. We really invested in these kinds of questions. A big part of the program was developing new forms and modes of representation that can help us understand these climate issues from an aesthetic or political perspective. It was interesting to navigate this with a partner from another culture, and although every group faced challenges, we really connected on our shared goal to represent these ecological issues in China.”
— Maya Castronovo, Northwestern University Student
"For me, I felt like I had the opportunity to try out new things, get messy, and learn alongside everyone else. There wasn’t a lot of pressure to create a perfect piece, and the most gratifying moments were the ones when we surprised ourselves. It was exciting to see everyone’s unique sensibilities come through in different ways, and how it felt when we discovered something new in the process that we didn’t know was possible."
— Blake Knecht, Northwestern University Student
Making movies without cameras, only plants. See behind the scenes of how CARE gave back.
Would you like to know more about the Project?
other programs you might be interested in
Solving a Giant Art Puzzle
How the Team of Displaced Chinese Art Digitalization Project is healing history
The Spirit of Giving Back
Cyrus Tang Caring Heart Scholarship for university students aspires to create a more caring society
Supporting Quality Education
CTF on a mission to bring quality education to the areas in China which needed it most