University of Pittsburg Christmas Day Meeting at NTNU Sets Stage for 2025 Collaboration
Professor Michael Shi-Yung Liu from the University of Pittsburgh's History Department was welcomed by Director Yide Liu of the International Affairs Office and Director Nikki Lin of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature on his recent visit to NTNU on Christmas Day to discuss plans for the University of Pittsburgh History Faculty's visiting delegation set for 2025.
Professor Liu gave an overview of the Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh, emphasizing the need for equal funding and support for Taiwan studies, on par with resources given to Korean and Japanese studies. Despite annual support from the Taiwan-US Foundation, he noted a shortage of human resources in this area. Professor Liu explored potential collaborations to bolster Taiwanese studies over the next 3 to 5 years.
A further area of discussion was the faculty development program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). This initiative aims to send world history educators from the University of Pittsburgh to Taiwan in 2025 to collaborate and exchange ideas with community college instructors.
Additionally, Professor Michael Liu addressed the challenges of teaching Taiwanese history in the U.S., particularly at the University of Pittsburgh, due to students' general unfamiliarity with Asian cultures. He suggested that Professor Lin, as the director of the Taiwan Literature Museum, play a vital role in enhancing the teaching of Taiwanese history.
The meeting concluded with discussions on the expired Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NTNU and the University of Pittsburgh, which terminated in 2007. Renewal discussions emphasized deepening existing partnerships and enhancing international visibility and mobility. The renewal, aimed at fostering academic exchanges, would be managed by the Faculty of Arts, with hopes of welcoming more American students to NTNU for future study and exchange programs.