The “Top University Strategic Alliance” (TUSA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the University of California,Berkeley (UC Berkeley) in the United States hosted an Asian Studies Doctoral Writing Workshop: “Building an Academic Bridge between Junior Scholars in Taiwan and the US through the Discussion of Doctoral Research and Dissertation Writing”
The TUSA and UC Berkeley jointly hosted an Asian Studies Doctoral Dissertation Writing Workshop, January 14th through 17th, 2013 at National Chengchi University (NCCU) in Taiwan. The workshop’s topic was Asian Studies, and the organizers invited PhD students and post-doctoral researchers from related academic fields at UC Berkeley and Taiwan’s universities to present academic papers, and also invited some scholars from the US and Taiwan to give lectures about their research.
The workshop aimed not only to strengthen research cooperation between the two countries and PhD students’ participation in international academic exchange, but also to further promote collaboration between the TUSA and UC Berkeley. The sessions within this workshop are on subjects in the humanities and social sciences including History, Comparative Literature, Sociology, Political Science, and Geography. Participating in the workshop were 9 doctoral candidates from UC Berkeley and, from Taiwan, 9 PhD students and 2 post-doctoral researchers. Participants presented their own papers in the workshop, in addition, they were requested to study and comment on other presenters’ papers in order for them to learn more from each other by exchanging views. This will give Taiwan’s junior scholars a better understanding of the international academic world, and provide international scholars an opportunity to understand Taiwan’s academic research process.
The workshop invited 5 visiting scholars from UC Berkeley, including Dr. Wen-hsin Yeh (葉文心), Professor of History and Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Professor Penelope Edwards, Professor Andrew Jones, Professor Lanchi Po, and Professor Peter Zinoman to attend. All 5 professors participated in the workshop and presided over thesis presentation sessions, giving suggestions on how to improve the papers presented by junior scholars. In addition, there were 4 keynote speeches at the workshop. Two of them were given by Professor Peter Zinoman and Professor Andrew Jones, who spoke about their research. The other two were given by Dr. Chien-min Chao (趙建民) of the Graduate Institute of Development Studies, NCCU, and Dr. Cheng-tian Kuo (郭天承), Professor of Political Science, NCCU. They presented their research on “Cross-Strait Relations” and the “Political Science of Religion” respectively.
Furthermore, the TUSA also held an “Introduction of UC Berkeley” on the afternoon of January 15th to increase Taiwan students’ understanding of TUSA’s overseas cooperation project. Professor Wen-hsin Yeh (葉文心), visiting scholars and doctoral candidates from UC Berkeley were invited to share their experiences with admission applications, studying and campus living with students who plan to study for a higher degree at UC Berkeley. Nearly 300 teachers and students from Taiwan and UC Berkeley participated in the workshop during the intensive 4-day session.
It is expected that this interaction between the TUSA and UC Berkeley will bring academic communities that care about Asian Studies in both countries together, and contribute to develop academic research networks, thereby enhancing Taiwan’s international academic visibility. For further information about the workshop, keynote speeches and the “Talent Selection and Nomination” program, please visit the Website of the Academic Cooperation Pilot Program between Universities in the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Top Overseas Universities at http://140.119.108.209/topleague.