News

 

The 6th International Symposium on Literature and Environment in East Asia was held on October 20, 21 in the NTNU. The symposium is organized by the English Department of NTNU, ASLE Taiwan and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Representatives from Kanazawa University, Osaka University, Nihon University, University of the Ryukyus, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University, Dongguk University and Soongsil University all came to the meeting.

 

ASLE-Taiwan is the Taiwan chapter of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment. Founded in 2000, ASLE-Taiwan is devoted to the trans-disciplinary study of literature and environment. Dean Chern Chiou Lan of the College of Liberal Arts said at the opening speech that NTNU is the best education institute for teacher's education and now we have become a comprehensive university. Dean Chern said that this symposium is a great opportunity for East Asian universities to communicate and she thanked the scholars in literature and environment for their continuous effort. 

 

The topic of the symposium is on war and peace and the environment in East Asia. The chairman of ASLE Taiwan, Prof. Liang I Ping said that 2018 marks the 70th Anniversary of the divided Korea. It reminds us the complex issues of nations' territory, natural environment and military environment. The literature works related to war and its disaster are the topic of this symposium. There are as much as 46 papers published in the symposium.

 

The first day is hosted by Director General Hsinya Huang, Department of International Cooperation & Science Education, Ministry of Science and Technology. Prof. Vernadette Gonzalez from the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa gave a keynote speech on tourism and militarism in Hawai‘i and the Philippines.  The most special occasion is that graduate students from Japan, Korean and Taiwan gathered together for the ecology in The Stolen Bicycle by Wu Ming Yi. 

 

The roundtable forum on the second day is held by the honorary chairman Prof. Lin Yao Fu. Prof. Doo-ho Shin, Prof. Yuki Masami and Prof. Liang I Ping were invited to discuss the challenge and outlook of the literature and environment in East Asia.

 

After the symposium, there's an outing to the Treasure Hill Artist Village in Taipei, where used to be a military dependents' village, also served as a strategic location for anti-aircraft monitoring. In recent years, it has become an artist village under the planning of Taipei City Government. Students from the English Department of NTNU guided the guests and received positive feedback. 

 

Participates really like this symposium and hope a prosperous future for the literature and environment in East Asia.