Prior to beginning a graduate degree at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Kate Murray was a Manager of Entrepreneur Selection & Growth at Endeavor, Detroit, a global nonprofit that supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets worldwide. Kate enjoys working in the world of economic development, but her one true love will always be the fascinating relationship between the United States and China.
Kate learned her first Chinese words at age ten from a “Big Bird in China” song. Since then, she spent ten years studying Mandarin in the classroom and one semester living in Beijing during her junior year of college. She dug further into U.S.-China relations during her senior year, researching and writing a thesis titled Bashful or Brash: An Examination of the Chinese Response to the Pivot.
Today, Kate tries to keep up with her Mandarin as much as possible, and to use her understanding of Chinese language, culture, and politics to help the entrepreneurs that she works with.
Kate is a proud Boston College Eagle with a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Chinese.
Prior to beginning a graduate degree at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Kate Murray was a Manager of Entrepreneur Selection & Growth at Endeavor, Detroit, a global nonprofit that supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets worldwide. Kate enjoys working in the world of economic development, but her one true love will always be the fascinating relationship between the United States and China.
Kate learned her first Chinese words at age ten from a “Big Bird in China” song. Since then, she spent ten years studying Mandarin in the classroom and one semester living in Beijing during her junior year of college. She dug further into U.S.-China relations during her senior year, researching and writing a thesis titled Bashful or Brash: An Examination of the Chinese Response to the Pivot.
Today, Kate tries to keep up with her Mandarin as much as possible, and to use her understanding of Chinese language, culture, and politics to help the entrepreneurs that she works with.
Kate is a proud Boston College Eagle with a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Chinese.
Our Structure
Consulting, full accompaniment on private tours and pilgrimages, research and bridge-building
Dr Jeremy Clarke, PhD.
Founding Director
and Principal
Sino-Immersions was founded in 2016, to help people understand China more deeply.
Our services provide expert advice and experiential learning, including through tours and pilgrimages.
We advise on how best to do business with Chinese companies and realities, and how best to engage with your Chinese friends, clients and colleagues. We tailor our services to meet your needs.
Our Principal
Our Principal and Founding Director, Dr Jeremy Clarke, PhD, first began studying Chinese language and culture in 1983.
He has strong memories of a school visit to China in 1985 where the group visited both the major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guilin, and (then) less frequented cities like Tangshan. This was on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the terrible earthquake which had devasted that city, and it was moving to talk with students and families about their experiences. This visit began a lifetime of friendship with Chinese people, and a desire to appreciate China's complexities.
In 1988 Dr Clarke won the Inaugural Australian Young Scholar in China scholarship, given by the federal government's Australia-China Council; only 6 scholarships were awarded. The prize entailed a year in China, studying language and culture in Beijing and then attending one of Shanghai's elite high-schools studying alongside Chinese classmates. Upon his return to Australia, some months before the events of April-June 1989, Jeremy continued to study Chinese language, culture, economics and history and in 1992 finished his first degree, a B.A. (Hons) in Chinese language, from Macquarie University, Sydney.
Later, after working in various educational, publishing and youth ministries, Dr Clarke earned his doctorate in Pacific and Asian History from the Australian National University, working with Professor Geremie Barmé. He also has advanced degrees in theology, with a specialistion in east-west cultural exchange and missiology.
Dr Clarke has published books and articles on everything from the history of the Chinese Catholic Church through to reviews of indigenous art exhibitions. He has appeared regularly on television and radio in both Australia and the US, and was interviewed for QANTAS in-flight entertainment about his Guidebook to Catholic Shanghai.
Jeremy has worked in both secondary and tertiary education, teaching Mandarin language at St Ignatius College, and over a 7 year period worked at the prestigious US Jesuit-run university Boston College, where he was a professor in the History Department, teaching small seminars and classes as large as 280 students.
He has also given public lectures in places as diverse as the National Library of Australia, Brown University (Rhode Island), Quebec and Jharkhand State, India.
Dr Clarke’s many years as a Jesuit and a Catholic priest enabled him to work closely with groups and individuals across a range of settings and contexts, in many countries.
As Principal, Jeremy is the first point of contact for clients wishing to engage the services of Sino-Immersions. His long years of first-hand engagement with China, and his professional training and experience, means that he is able to construct a program that suits your needs.
In the Covid years, Jeremy began a wine bar and bookstore in Boorowa, NSW, which continues still. See theoccasionalwinebar.com
Now that China is opening up again, Jeremy is renewing the tour side of the business.
Contact him now, via email on jclarke@sinoimmersions.com or via telephone +61 420 288 693
How our staff help you
Since our inception, Sino-Immersions deliberately recruited a team of young researchers, writers and tour assistants to assist our Principal.
We drew our staff from Australia and the USA and we loved the youthful energy, up-to-date knowledge of grassroots China and - most importantly - linguistic competency they brought to the tasks at hand.
All of our staff had travelled, lived and studied in China, and remain keen students of Chinese language and culture. They understand the challenges involved in coming to a deeper understanding of China, and so are well-placed to help you overcome these challenges, even before you know they exist.
Members of our team are also students and graduates from mainland China, and are key contributors to our bridge-building activities.
Sino-Immersions is proud to have played a role in their formation and professional development, and looks forward to developing a new team of youthful assistants.
Introducing team members past
Sam Shriver, Washington DC, USA and Shanghai
Researcher, Copy-writer and Tour Assistant
Sam assisted Sino-Immersions with professional consultancies and with our immersive tours, including both private and group tours.
Angus Gilbert, Manly, Australia
General Factotum and Tour Assistant
Angus played a key role as General Factotum, Researcher and Tour Assistant, including on the successful With the Columbans in China pilgrimage.
Ella Clarke, Fairlight, Australia
Analyst and Tour Assistant
Ella was actively involved in doing essential research on numerous of our consultancy projects.
Zhan Ziheng, Sydney, Australia and PRC
Analyst and Translation Services
Zhan Ziheng (Zerick) was a key member of our translation services team, and kept us up-to-date with idiomatic language usage.
Xavier Eales
Tour Assistant and Researcher
Xavier provided assistance in Shanghai during our inaugural tour and subsequently worked on our professional consultancies.