Thank you for reading my blog! Here I will post information about my senior research project, highlighting my results, travels, and progress. Asia's culture has been viewed as mostly collectivist, but recent studies suggest a shift towards individualism. Coming from an Asian background myself, this supposed shift towards individualism immediately caught my interest. My research question is: How might China’s shift to individualism affect business litigation in a previously collectivist society? I personally believe many laws will be effected, especially intellectual property and even patenting rights. Certainly China's new laws would be different from the previously established collectivist laws. These concepts are the ones I look forward to exploring. 

I have always had an interest in Chinese culture, especially after taking Mandarin Chinese at my high school since the 7th grade. The idea of studying business laws in China was immediately intriguing to me, so I set out to find a method to do so. I have the privilege of interning at Hongrui law firm in ShenZhen. Studying at the law firm will allow me to have access to many mentors and help me answer my research question. I mean, interning in China itself seems awesome! 

I will be staying with a Chinese family, allowing me to fully immerse myself in Chinese culture. Although  I have studied Chinese traditions at school, going to China and personally experiencing the culture is an irreplaceable educational opportunity I cannot pass up. On a side note, I hope I can improve my Chinese while staying there! Picking up another language would be a great bonus to this trip. 

I will continue to post updates on my progress, including new concepts I may learn, places I may visit, and summaries of how collectivism or individualism is evident in every day life in China. It will be an exciting journey, an experience unlike any I have previously had. Thanks for following me and sharing in that experience! I look forward to keeping you guys up to date on how things are going. 

-Ishan Patel (new, yet excited blogger)