North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA) celebrates its 20th annual meeting
The North American Taiwan Studies Association, NATSA, held its 20th annual meeting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School on June 20th and 21st, 2014. NATSA is a nonprofit organization registered in the state of California. Its primary task is to bring together leaders in the field of Taiwan Studies and to arrange an annual conference. NATSA is primarily comprised of overseas Taiwanese scholars, but in recent years the association has also included PhD candidates and young academics from U.S. and Canadian universities whose research is focused on Taiwan. This is a gratifying testament to the growth of scholarly interest and activity in the Taiwan Studies field.
This year's conference, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of NATSA's founding, chose as its theme The Zeitgeists of Taiwan: Looking Back, Moving Forward.
With support from Taiwan's Ministry of Education, the conference was able to expand and over one hundred scholars from all over the world took part. The conference had four featured speakers: Mr. Ching-Chang Yen, who served asTaiwan's first Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization from 2002 to2005; Professor Thomas Gold from the Sociology Department at the University of California-Berkeley; Professor Emeritus Edward Friedman from the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin's; and Professor Tze-Lan Deborah Sang, the Professor of Chinese Literature and Cultural Studies at Michigan State University. Sixteen panels were organized, as well as two round table discussions, film screenings, and a poster and new book display.
TECO-Chicago participated in the conference's opening night reception, and expressed its support for the conference, and congratulated NAFTA for celebrating its 20 year anniversary.