In celebration of its 10th Anniversary, the European Research Center on Contemporary Taiwan – A CCK Foundation Overseas Center (CCKF-ERCCT) – hosted the Symposium on the Future of Taiwan Studies: the next steps to take on Friday and Saturday, June 22/23, 2018, at the Castle of Hohentübingen.
Internationally renowned Taiwan Scholars from both the humanities and social sciences honoured the ERCCT with their participation.
After some very thoughtful yet humorous welcoming remarks from Professor Bernd Engler, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tübingen, Professor Shieh Jyh-Wey, head of the Taipei Representative Office to the Federal Republic of Germany in Berlin, and Professor Su Yeong-chin, representative of the European Regional Committee of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, ERCCT Director, Prof. Gunter Schubert, offered a retrospective on the achievements of the center in its 10 years of promoting Taiwan Studies at the University of Tübingen.
A most recent milestone for Taiwan studies in Tübingen was the establishment of the position of Assistant Professor of Modern Taiwan Studies at the Department of Chinese Studies in April 2018. Dr. Tseng Yu-chin, who was appointed to this position and concurrently serves as ERCCT Co-Director, presented her vision of furthering Taiwan Studies in Tübingen and beyond at the symposium, her talk was entitled: “The Imaginations of Taiwan: How to Contest the Ambivalence of Taiwan Studies”.
As South Korea has been very successful in promoting Korean Studies worldwide as well as at the University of Tübingen, there is certainly a lot that Taiwan could learn from South Korean Institutional Enhancement Programmes and Cooperation Experiences, a topic discussed by Prof. Dr. Lee You Jae from the Department of Korean Studies at Tübingen University.
Following were a number of very inspiring position papers presented by our external guests: Professor Jonathan Sullivan from the University of Nottingham spoke on “Mainstreaming Taiwan Studies: Making the Case for a New Field”, Professor Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao from Academia Sinica reported on “Retrospect and Prospect for Taiwan Studies in Taiwan and in the World”, Professor Shelley Rigger from Davidson College reflected on “Liberating Taiwan from the Social Sciences”, and Professor Thomas B. Gold from the University of California, Berkeley, raised (and answered) the question “Is the Trump Disruption Providing an Opening for Taiwan Studies in the U.S.?”
After a very merry conference dinner in a charming restaurant in the historical city center on Friday evening, the symposium continued on Saturday with the fifth position paper presented by Prof. Gunter Schubert, who shared his vision on “Strategizing the Recruitment of Taiwan Scholars at Western Universities.
Finally, the symposium concluded with the discussion of a draft document for a “Manifesto on the Future of Taiwan Studies” to be presented at the 3rd World Congress of Taiwan Studies in the coming September.
The ERCCT wishes to express its gratitude to the Munich branch office of the Taipei Representative Office to the Federal Republic of Germany, to the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, and to the Universitätsbund Tübingen e.V. for their generous support of this event.