Ministry of Education and University of Cambridge Renew Taiwan Studies Cooperation Agreement
The Ministry of Education in Taiwan (MOE) and the University of Cambridge signed a renewal of the Agreement for the Funding of a Taiwan Studies Programme in May 2020 for a further three-year period. Dr. Nicole Yen-Yi Lee, the Director of the Education Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, and Professor Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, signed the renewed Agreement electronically, as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The Taiwan Studies Programme is designed to help University of Cambridge students to learn more about Taiwan's society, history, and culture. The MOE and the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at this prestigious university have been working together since 2006, to develop Taiwan Studies there.
Students studying Chinese in the Faculty’s Department of East Asian Studies learn traditional Chinese characters from first year onwards. Many first-year students travel to attend Mandarin courses at language centers in Taiwan during their summer vacation and enjoy a wonderful opportunity to consolidate their Chinese learning and experience Taiwan’s culture, some with a 2-month Huayu Enrichment Scholarship funded by the MOE, and others join them at their own expense.
Dr. Lee visited the University of Cambridge several times over the past year to talk with Professor Hans van de Ven, Professor of Modern Chinese History, who is in charge of implementing the ongoing Taiwan Studies Programme. Professor van de Ven has spent long periods in Taiwan. During the further three-year period covered by this Agreement, the Faculty will undertake: 1. establishing Taiwan Studies related master’s degree courses; 2. integrating suitable Taiwan related topics into history, globalisation, and other courses; and 3. organizing a Taiwan Film Week every academic year.
Dr. Lee believes that these will all help these students in the UK to increase their awareness of and their interest in Taiwan, and she looks forward to continuing to work together with Professor van de Ven.