Project

Real-world projects creating positive impacts for self, others, communities, and the planet.

Annually, numerous interdisciplinary projects emerge with the mission of contributing to a better world.These projects span multiple disciplines and areas such as biosciences, urban planning, innovative media, physics, and mathematics. Within them, we are engineers, designers, architects, scientists, thinkers, and visionaries for the future. We expect these projects could inspire learners in creating impactful work, prompting them to consider their place in the broader context of the world and the progression of human civilization.

Creative & ExpressionChinese Studies

A Collection of Micro Novels "One Corner, One Observation, One Writing"

Disciplines/Subjects: Chinese Language Arts Key Themes: Fiction, Creative writing, Exaggeration, Alienation, Metaphor From a corner of the world, observing people and society. Art originates from life, higher than life. "Novelists from ancient and modern times, both domestic and foreign, reflect social reality through their writing, describe it with warmth, criticize it sharply, or depict human nature through unique artistic techniques. They transport readers to a whole new world and showcase different life experiences. This power is not based on argumentation or facts, but on the illusion that life is happening on paper, which is the life of their characters. Through the intensive reading of each unit's representative novel and relevant supplementary materials, learners can understand the expression techniques and techniques of various novels, choose one of the following three topics, imitate and learn from its artistic techniques, understand the basic methods of novel creation, create a mini-novel, and present their attitudes and reflections on certain social phenomena, trends of thought or popular culture. A. What phenomena in real society do you want to criticize? Please shape a typical character based on this, using exaggeration, contrast, and satire techniques, designing necessary plot conflicts, showcasing their core characteristics, and writing their story and your stance B. The alienation of human beings "reflects the alienation of the body and the misalignment of thoughts, as well as the dilemma of human survival. Based on your observation, in real life, which person/individuals have you seen facing survival difficulties? Please write a story about 'human alienation transformation' through passive explicit transformation, showcasing their struggles and difficulties, as well as the inner world of the characters. C. The metaphorical technique helps us better understand the connections or behaviors between specific things. By observing and experiencing life (historical events, small things that reflect truth in life, social hotspots), you can choose a theme and use metaphorical techniques to create a group story through the setting of images, scenes, plots, and details. This will reveal the essence of something or the truth of life, or subtly express your views and positions on a sensitive event.
Creative & ExpressionChinese Studies

Universe of Contemporary Chinese Literature - Podcast Channel

Disciplines/Subjects: Chinese Language Arts Key Themes: Contemporary Literature, Textual Analysis, Close Reading This project aims to leverage cutting-edge AI technologies to develop a revolutionary conversational training system tailored for children with autism. We are building an AI product powered by advanced language models designed to enhance the social skills of children with autism. Traditional social skills interventions often depend on professionals, leading to high costs and limited scalability. Our AI system utilizes innovative natural language processing technologies to provide accessible, personalized socialization training. Through simulated conversations and emotional interactions in a virtual environment, children with autism can practice and develop essential social skills. At the heart of this product is a data-driven dynamic learning engine that continuously self-optimizes based on user progress, offering step-by-step support. By engaging in multi-turn dialogues, the AI system adapts to individual needs, creating a non-threatening, friendly interaction environment where users can practice skills for real-world social scenarios. With intelligent guidance and feedback mechanisms, this AI solution offers a sustainable, scalable approach to supporting children with autism in better integrating into society and improving their quality of life. Beyond being a technical tool, this product represents a transformative effort to leverage AI for social good. We believe that through innovative, scalable AI applications, we can address critical gaps in special education worldwide, becoming a bridge that connects technology with human care.
Creative & ExpressionChinese Studies

Let's write the "A Good Fall" manual together

Disciplines/Subjects: Chinese Language Arts, Sociology Key Themes: Immigration literature, new immigrants, mentality Homesickness is a small stamp. I'm over here, Mother is over there. Since 1978, batches of intellectual elites have chosen to cross the ocean to study in the US. Compared to the earliest group of Chinese labor immigrants who came to the US for "gold mining", the name "new immigrants" has emerged due to the huge changes in their knowledge background and immigration purposes. As intellectuals who are "new immigrants", some of them choose to return to China for development after achieving success in the US, while others choose to continue to realize their "US dream" and become residents. Over time, the social structure of Chinese immigrants in the US has gradually become richer and more complete. With the increasing diversity of Chinese immigrant society, "New Immigrant Literature" has gradually prospered. Nowadays, a group of new immigrant writers not only express their frustrations and feelings directly through narrative descriptions of life but also learn to dig out the insights of different groups and cultures on life and the examination of human nature from the complex details of life. Learners will determine the theme they want to explore about the living conditions faced by new immigrants based on personal experiences/interviews with Chinese people who have lived overseas, search for relevant information, and write a paper combining their understanding and analysis of new immigrant literary works (novels) related to the theme to explore the inner strength that can support the mentality of new immigrants. All the papers written by the learners will be compiled into a handbook that explores the living conditions and mindset themes of new immigrants. This not only examines the learners' understanding and interpretation, analysis and evaluation, focus and organization, and language abilities but also provides a better guide for learners who are about to study abroad to "take root".
Creative & ExpressionChinese Studies

The Chinese Classics Editorial Department has published a new book!——Study of Tang and Song Dynasty Poetry

Disciplines/Subjects: Literature Key Themes: Classical Chinese Poetry, Tang and Song Dynasty Literature "How can one speak without learning poetry?" Poetry, amidst nature and daily life, becomes the most authentic expression of human emotions. The Tang and Song dynasties represent the zenith of ancient Chinese poetry and lyrical composition, giving rise to countless distinguished poets, lyricists, and outstanding works. Poetry and lyrics, with their beautiful language and profound emotions, hold an undeniable value for our aesthetic tastes, emotional expression, and creative abilities. However, in this era of "fast entertainment," how many people would delve into the beauty of poetry and lyrics beyond what is required by schools for recitation and dictation? Do we truly understand the aesthetic and cultural connotations carried by poetry and lyrics? What can we do to deepen our appreciation of the beauty of poetry and lyrics, and also introduce the charm of Tang and Song poetry to more people? In this "The Chinese Classics Editorial Department has published a new book!" PA task, we will transform into editors of Chinese classics, planning, publishing, and printing a book for the study of Tang and Song poetry and lyrics according to the needs of our audience, and placing it in the library so that more members of the Moonshot Community can experience the beauty of poetry and the cultural connotations it contains. At the same time, each of us is also an author of this book. We choose a poet or lyricist from the Tang or Song dynasty that interests us, and based on "Know Others and Discuss Their World", we delve into their poetic works based on our understanding and insights, producing a text analysis article. In this text analysis article, everyone will interpret the themes and central ideas, structure, development, word choice, and the author's viewpoints and purposes of poetic works.
Creative & ExpressionArt

Thunders and Whispers

Disciplines/Subjects: Sound Art, Installation Art Key Themes: Listening modes, soundscape, field recording, sound editing The earliest VR virtual reality display was created in 1968. As early as 1932, Russian composer Alexander Scriabin created the earliest existing stereo recording. Binaural stereo headphones, which have been in mass production since the 1960s, have been able to accurately transmit ambient sound, but why did the concept of “virtual reality” not become widely accepted by the general public until the popularization of VR headsets 60 years later? What is the unique experience of sound in the visually dominated perception of reality? In his exploration of sound art, pioneering French composer Michel Chion proposes three modes of listening that differentiate between the source, the semantics, and the qualities of the sound itself. Learners in Exploring Moon Contemporary Media Art use this as a starting point to break the habit of perceiving and describing the sounds around them in a more multidimensional way. After visiting the Sound Art Museum with rich listening objectives in mind, we tried to create a more complete sound experience for our peers by combining different playback media and environments with recordings, objects, and favorite songs around us. Sound Art is another perspective on music. We used our cell phones to record samples from our lives, learning modern digital editing techniques to paint a soundscape as if we were making music, refreshing our imaginations of uniqueness and resonance, and capturing those fleeting fluctuations as we shared them over and over again.
Creative & ExpressionArt

The -ism Project

Disciplines/Subjects: Visual Arts, English Key Themes: European and American art history, analysis, personal perspective The popularization of mainstream art history has long been dominated by the European and American viewpoint of “originating from Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, passing through the Renaissance and Baroque, to Romanticism, Impressionism, and up to modern contemporary art”, which tells a relatively single logic of development and values. As a form of communication common to all human beings beyond language, the history of art has always been incredibly diverse. In the artistic path of Moon Exploration, to communicate smoothly in the context of contemporary art from Europe and the United States, we will respect and systematically explore the masterpieces and the causes and consequences of the traditional narratives. At the same time, we cannot help but ask: In the face of such an authoritative framework, where do we place the movies, stars, topics, and culture that have inspired our appreciation and creativity since our childhood, and where do we place ourselves? So we drew our art history maps, turning straight timelines into spider webs, trails, mountains, and clouds, to see a more unique connection between ancient and modern art and Chinese art from our perspectives. After studying the techniques of specific art genres and combing through their development, we gradually became curious beyond the generalization of the big time, “What does contemporary realism look like?” “Does rebellion have to be Dada?” “Where are the female artists in Abstract Expressionism?” “What is unique about Chinese art history?” Information found with genuine curiosity is more memorable, and characteristics are more interesting after comparison. After an essay, or an exam, the distance between creation and research seems to be closing.
Creative & ExpressionArt

Self-Portrait

Disciplines/Subjects: Visual Arts Key Themes: Self-portrait, Collage, Found object, Art therapy Self-portraits are a recurring theme in artists’ creations. Whether it’s a realistic self-portrait meticulously drawn by observing oneself in a mirror, or an abstract self-portrait created using any materials or objects to convey personal traits, this is an essential step in art learning and creation. In the Self-Portrait unit of the Art Track, learners will start by identifying ten personal keywords and then complete three works centered on self-expression. These three projects include: Life Album (with cover) – exploring direct self-expression. Readymade Sculpture – using real objects and materials to convey unique characteristics. The Opposite of Me – identifying and attempting to approach or even embrace one’s opposite side. Following these three creations, learners will utilize their ELP time to produce a fully developed and polished self-portrait. This time, their audience will include the entire community.
Creative & ExpressionArt

Four pages comic

Disciplines/Subjects: Visual Arts Key Themes: Comics, Graphic Novel, Chris Ware Famous comic works like The Avengers, Dragon Ball, and Old Master Q are often regarded as children's reading material and thus dismissed by many adult readers. However, when we revisit the history of storytelling through images, we find many extraordinary artistic works that are innovative in style and profound in content. For instance, the graphic novel Maus, which deals with the theme of Nazi concentration camps during World War II, became the first such work to win a Pulitzer Prize, demonstrating to readers worldwide that image-based storytelling can rival even the most serious literary creations. When we grow accustomed to recording life through abstract written language, we often face the limitations of vocabulary and expression, making it challenging to fully articulate our thoughts. By turning to image-based storytelling, we might discover that our thoughts and emotions inadvertently emerge between panels. In this process, whether we quickly convey a story through concise frames or repeatedly use a series of similar images to create the atmosphere, our creative expression takes on a magical transformation. The graphic novels of artist Chris Ware show us how the mundane can be reinterpreted through images, becoming thought-provoking and impactful. In this comics unit, students who have learned about creating multi-panel narratives will take inspiration from Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth to identify moments in their own daily lives worth recording and reimagine them through their creations. This project aims to challenge the stereotypical perceptions of comics as a creative medium.