The UCLA Taiwan Studies Program, housed in the Asia Pacific Center, is one of the most active and vibrant centers for the study of Taiwan in the United States, offering an array of public events, conferences and lecture series, visiting scholar exchanges, new courses, library acquisitions, and research fellowships and travel grants for faculty and students. Its signature programs include the Taiwan Studies Lectureship, the UCLA-National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) Taiwan Studies Initiative, and the Taiwan in the World Program, established in 2020. Taiwan studies programs and scholarships are supported by a generous gift from the J. Yang and Family Foundation.
UCLA Taiwan Studies Program Initiatives
Projects
The UCLA Taiwan Studies Lectureship (TSL) is housed in the UCLA Asia Pacific Center (APC) and overseen by the Dean of Humanities, Professor David Schaberg, and the Director of the APC, Professor Min Zhou. Since its inception in 2014, the program has succeeded in expanding the study of Taiwan on campus, focusing on Taiwan’s role in the scholarship of the Chinese classical foundation and its modern manifestations in Taiwan, Taiwan in East Asian and global contexts, and cultural transformations in Taiwan and the Taiwanese diaspora. The program supports visiting scholars from Taiwan, new courses, public programs, library acquisitions, publications, and scholarships for students and faculty to conduct research in Taiwan.
Outcome Feature Description
The UCLA TSL is at the heart of a thriving Taiwan studies program that enriches understanding of Taiwan at UCLA and throughout southern California. The TSL has seen significant growth in its programs, institutional commitment and visibility of Taiwan studies over the past six years through our international agreements and domestic partnerships, expansion of courses on Taiwan, and increasing support for faculty and student research and publications. Thanks to the TSL, the APC has attracted foundational support from the J. Yang Foundation which has enhanced our Taiwan programming and expanded scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students from Taiwan.
The UCLA–NTNU Taiwan Studies Initiative, directed by Prof. Shih Shu-mei (Asian Languages & Cultures, Comparative Literature, and Asian American Studies), has been extended for another three years, 2020–2023. The APC signed a new MOU with National Taiwan University in November 2019, and has built on its partnership with National Chengchi University.
In addition, the UCLA Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library is designated as a Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies (TRCCS) by the National Central Library of Taiwan. It has an ongoing academic exchange program with the Institute of History and Philology of Academia Sinica which includes access to the database of Scripta Sinica provided by Academia Sinica and document services provided by the UCLA Library.
The UCLA TSL has brought dozens of distinguished scholars from Taiwan and the US to present public lectures, participate in conferences, and engage in graduate reading seminars and undergraduate classes on their areas of research. Visiting scholars who come to UCLA for short-term residencies contribute to the academic life of campus through public lectures and participation in conferences and reading seminars in collaboration with faculty and students at UCLA. Since it began, the TSL has offered programs that investigate the classical foundation and its modern manifestations. Our programs also consider Taiwan in East Asian and global contexts, and cultural transformations in Taiwan and Taiwanese diaspora with a focus on cultures in flux.
Several activities had to be postponed during the spring quarter of 2020 due to COVID-19, but the APC Taiwan Studies Program was able to carry out a robust range of activities, and initiated the transition to virtual instruction and online events.
The APC organized two Taiwan programs for UCLA International Education Week in November, 2019, a national initiative by the US Departments of State and Education: 1. a public presentation by Prof. Jacob Edmond from the University of Otago in New Zealand, on Rethinking Cultural Relation: Sinophone and Anglophone Translation Poetry. He presented a comparative analysis of works by mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, and US poets, such as Brandon Som, Yi Sha 伊沙, Hsia Yü 夏宇, Jonathan Stalling, Tan Lin, and the Garbage School of Poetry - Laji pai 垃圾派. 2. Prof. Min Zhou hosted a roundtable forum for APC international visiting scholars. Abraham Chu, Director General of TECO–LA, was a guest speaker, along with representatives from TECO.
In October 2019, the APC cosponsored the Taiwan Biennial Film Festival organized by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, and presented a special screening of Our Youth in Taiwan, winner of the 2019 Golden Horse for Best Documentary.
In the winter quarter 2020, the APC hosted Prof. Kuan Da-wei from National Chengchi University as a visiting scholar for four weeks. Prof. Kuan co-taught a new course on Modernization and the Development of Taiwan Indigenous Societies, with Prof. Stephen Acabado from the UCLA Department of Anthropology.
The TSL and the Dean of Humanities also supported the development of a new course on Taiwanese Language and Literature in the UCLA Department of Asian Languages & Cultures. This new course teaches the Taiwanese Minnan dialect, Taiyu, through popular culture. A second quarter will be added in the 2020–21 academic year.
In response to the restrictions on public gathering and travel to prevent spread of the pandemic, the APC moved to teaching and offering public programs in virtual formats. It organized a webinar on Insights on the Economic Impacts of COVID-19 from the East Asian Perspective, with Lin Chu-Chia from National Chengchi University, and Biung-Ghi Ju from Seoul National University, as part of the UCLA International Institute series on COVID-19. This attracted 80 participants worldwide.
The TSL also supported translation and copy-editing for publication of a Chinese language version of The Musha Incident: A Cultural and Historical Reader, edited by Prof. Michael Berry, published by Rye Field Publishing, Taipei 2020. An English language version is in preparation and will be published by Columbia University Press. Finally, the TSL provided funding for the acquisition of new volumes of Folk Literature: Materials in the Collection of the Institute of History and Philology by the UCLA East Asian Library.
Since its launch, the TSL has funded for 34 graduate student awards and 10 faculty member awards to support their research in Taiwan, in fields including but not limited to literature, art history, history, indigenous studies, anthropology, performing arts, ethnomusicology, education, and sociology. UCLA graduate students have benefited both from meeting visiting scholars during TSL activities and from finding mentors in Taiwan through the program.
The TSL has supported the development of four new courses on Taiwan at UCLA. The TSL activities promote greater visibility and stronger ties between scholars in Taiwan and UCLA faculty and graduate students, and have helped foster a community on campus with shared interests in the study of Taiwan.
For information about our past programs as well as upcoming events, please visit http://www.international.ucla.edu/apc/taiwanProjects
計畫內容概述
加州大學洛杉磯分校臺灣研究講座計畫(UCLA Taiwan Studies Lectureship，簡稱TSL)由該校亞太中心 (Asia Pacific Center, 簡稱APC) 負責執行，亞太中心周敏主任及人文學院史嘉柏院長（David Schaberg）擔任共同主持人。此計畫自2014 年辦理以來，已成功擴展該校臺灣研究及在中華經典基礎與臺灣、臺灣在東亞與全球環境、臺灣文化轉型及校園中臺灣海外移民等現代體現的學術角色。該校TSL 計畫邀請來自臺灣的訪問學者擔任客座講座、發展課程、辦理公開活動、購置圖書補充研究資源，以及提供該校研究生與教職員獎助金赴臺灣進行研
究。
成果特色概述
UCLA 與教育部合作推動的臺灣研究講座計畫正逢臺灣研究邁向蓬勃發展時期，本計畫促進UCLA 及南加州地區對臺灣的認識。第1 及第2 期執行6 年來，UCLA 經由此項國際合作及美國境內的支持，讓臺灣研究講座計畫不論是發展規模、校方的投入承諾及臺灣研究的知名度均見到顯著的增長，不僅壯大臺灣相關課程教學，並增加對教授及學生從事研究及著作出版的支持。由於TSL 計畫的執行，亞太中心募得楊信家族基金會捐贈，作為UCLA 進一步發展臺灣研究及培養研究人才之永久經費，以及提供來自臺灣的大學部學生及研究生就讀UCLA 的獎助學金。
由UCLA 史書美教授主持與國立臺灣師範大學臺灣研究計畫，於2020 年續約3 年至2023年，亞太中心在與國立政治大學的合作基礎上，於2019 年11 月又與國立臺灣大學簽署新的合作備忘錄。此外，UCLA 的東亞圖書館獲得國家圖書館支持，多年來在圖書館內設立臺灣漢學研究資源中心（TRCCS），與中央研究院歷史語言研究所亦進行學術交流計畫，相互提供資料庫及檔案史料服務等研究資源。
UCLA 的臺灣研究講座計畫自辦理以來已邀請來自臺灣和美國的數十位傑出學者進行公開演講、參加會議及學生的閱讀研討會及授課，這些訪問學者透過與該校教職員及學生短期駐校交流及分享等，豐富了UCLA 校園的學術生活，對該校學術發展貢獻良多。從2014 年計畫開始，UCLA 持續進行課程研究開發，相關課程已提供探究經典基礎及其現代體現的特點，強調臺灣學術的持續研究與傳統文化的轉型。第2 期起，該校臺灣研究計畫將臺灣納入東亞及全球環境下，並且著重文化洪流中臺灣的文化轉型及臺灣離散族群（Taiwanese diaspora）的轉變。UCLA 提出第3 期5 年的規劃，盼將臺灣研究提升至能夠提供穩定研究、教學及開展課程的新階段，並與現今全球性問題及最新研究課題連結，永續發展臺灣研究。
受到新冠肺炎疫情的影響，2020 年春季課程的一些學術活動被迫延緩舉辦，為因應疫情對公眾聚會和旅行的限制，UCLA 臺灣研究講座計畫仍以線上方式展開一系列活動。2020 年 6 月舉辦「從東亞角度洞視疫情對經濟的影響」網絡研討會，此亦為UCLA 國際學院系列課程之一，邀請國立政治大學林祖嘉教授和首爾國立大學Biung-Ghi Ju 教授主講，吸引全球80位學者與會。在鼓勵出版刊物方面的活動則是支持Michael Berry 教授編輯及翻譯《霧社事件：一個文化和歷史的讀者》，英文版將由哥倫比亞大學出版社出版。此外臺灣研究講座計畫也為UCLA 東亞圖書館添購《民間文學：歷史語言研究所集刊》。
提供獎助金鼓勵研究也是計畫的重點。自臺灣研究講座成立以來，已資助了34 名研究生和10 名教授從事臺灣的相關研究，包含但不限於文學、藝術史、歷史、原住民研究、人類學、表演藝術、民族音樂學、教育和社會學等領域。UCLA 的研究生受益於TSL 計畫的執行，得有機會接受臺灣學者的指導進行研究。經多年的努力，臺灣研究講座已在UCLA 開發出4門新的臺灣課程，所舉辦的活動大幅提高臺灣研究的知名度，加強臺灣學者與UCLA 教授和研究生之間的學術合作與聯繫，培育出對臺灣研究有共同興趣的研究社群。
有關臺灣研究講座過往及未來將舉辦的活動，歡迎參閱如下網頁：
更多UCLA TSL 相關資訊如下： http://www.international.ucla.edu/apc/taiwan