Visit by University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center to Enhance US Awareness of Taiwan
A delegation from University of Pittsburgh’s Asian Studies Center visited National Taiwan Normal University on 12 June. Pitt’s Asian Studies Center is currently undertaking “Centering Taiwan in Global Asia,” a three-year-long education initiative spearheaded by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education. One of the goals for the visit to NTNU is to forge a deeper partnership with the Department of Taiwanese Culture, Languages and Literature and the Department of History, which will not only provide opportunities for exchange between faculty and students, but also improve the English website designed by the Asian Studies Center to educate about Taiwan and raise its visibility in the United States.
The University of Pittsburgh and NTNU had signed an MOU in 2005. The delegation led by Associate Director Dr. James Cook visited the University in hopes of establishing more university-level collaborations. Dr. Chiou-Lan Chern, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts said that the Asian Studies Center has achieved a great deal in the study of Taiwan history and it is also NTNU’s sincere hope to further collaborate in research for Taiwan studies, Asian American studies, and cultural studies in general.
The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh has a strong research presence in Pennsylvania and the entire Eastern United States. It has received funding from the US Department of Education for a number of research projects and is actively working with Taiwanese representatives from the Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York on 'Centering Taiwan in Global Asia.” This research project’s educational website for K-14 schools in the U.S. received the Buchanan Prize this year from the Association for Asian Studies in recognition of the Asian Studies Center’s contribution to the teaching of Taiwanese history. During this visit, the Pitt delegation also drew upon the experience of research cooperation between National Taiwan Normal University and the University of California, Los Angeles regarding Taiwanese studies.
Members of the Center were able through this visit to discuss directly with NTNU professors about practical areas of collaboration. In addition to further developing the Center's website and other educational contents for teaching about Taiwan, the Center also invited professors from NTNU to visit the University of Pittsburgh for joint teaching and research endeavors.