On October 20, 2017 Lu Meichen, Director of the Education Division at the Taipei Representative Office in France, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the French National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) for the creation of the first Taiwanese Studies Program in France. This represents a milestone for Taiwanese Studies in France.
This Program, which will be implemented from 2017 to 2020, represents a commitment to promote research on Taiwan within EHESS. The first series of lectures will be given by Professor Samia Ferhat from November 13, 2017, and will take people on a journey visiting "Taiwan and her Places of Memories". Professor Ferhat, a professor at Paris Nanterre University awarded a Franco-Taiwanese Cultural Foundation prize in 2015, is a specialist in the field of Taiwanese political history. Her aim is to provide an in-depth analysis of the identity of Taiwan and her people using a multidisciplinary approach encompassing sociology, political science, and history. These lectures are open to master’s degree and doctoral students at EHESS. Other planned Program activities include organizing seminars, and conferences, and providing financial assistance for students to undertake fieldwork on Taiwan–related issues.

At the signing ceremony, Professor Ferhat expressed her hope that this Program would serve as the basis for the establishment of a permanent research center on Taiwan within EHESS. Taiwan’s Representative Zhang Ming-zhong expressed his support for the Program and his aspirations for it to be the starting point of a burgeoning of Taiwan Studies in France. Xavier Paulès, Director of the Modern Chinese Research Center (CECMC) at EHESS, sees the establishment of the Program as a historical moment in the development of Taiwan Studies in France. Lu Meichen cited the example of the French Association of Taiwanese Studies which has already established a network in the French-speaking world, saying that she too hoped that this Program would similarly become an emblematic center for Taiwanese Studies in Europe and in the world.

Photo:Taipei Representative Office in France, signed a MoU with the CNRS and the EHESS for the creation of the first Taiwanese Studies Program in France.