The trend of Taiwan Studies has gradually emerged in the academic circles of Nordic countries. The University of Oslo in Norway, created a master’s program for Taiwanese studies, and the University of Helsinki in Finland, launched a series of Taiwan Spotlight programs this year, and following in their steps, the University of Stockholm in Sweden is now hosting its first ever Taiwan Culture and Literature in Focus lecture series, online from September 13 to November 18.

The lectures are the result of the first Taiwan Studies related cooperation between Stockholm University and the Education Division of the Taipei Mission in Sweden, and support from the Ministry of Education in Taiwan.

Well-known scholars from Taiwan, Europe and Canada, such as Dr. Chi Ta-wei from National Chengchi University, Dr. Tsai Lin-chin from National Chung Hsing University, and Dr. Dafydd J. Fell from SOAS at the University of London, were invited to deliver the lectures. The lectures cover a diverse range of topics, exploring broad aspects of social development and humanities, including digital entrepreneurship, female migrants in Taiwan, Taiwan’s ecological literature, the colonial history of Taiwan, cultural democratization and Taiwan cinema, postmodernism and avant-garde poetry, memory practices, multiparty politics, and queer literature in Taiwan.

The host of the series lecture, Prof. Irmy Schweiger, was formerly a researcher at National Taiwan Normal University and National Taiwan University, investigating contemporary Chinese literature and culture. She hopes these lectures will enhance the current general and research interest in Taiwan, in Sweden and also in other Nordic countries. The lectures will also provide material for preliminary Taiwan Studies courses in the future, and multicultural research.

It’s worthy of note that Stockholm University has designated the lecture series as a compulsory course for students to encourage more teachers to participate. The lectures are also open to the general public and everyone is welcome to participate.

You can find details here on the Stockholm University website:
https://www.su.se/department-of-asian-middle-eastern-and-turkish-studies/digital-monday-lecture-series-taiwan-literatures-and-cultures-in-focus-1.570913