UW Taiwan Studies 2020 Newsletter
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the UW Taiwan Studies Program newsletter. We intend to make this newsletter an annual update of news, events, and other items of interest to the Taiwan Studies community. We invite your feedback as well as your support.
COVID-19 Roundtable and New Online Events
While our Spring quarter events have been postponed or rescheduled, the UW Taiwan Studies Program has been working to connect with the Taiwan Studies community through the use of online platforms like Zoom and YouTube. To this end, we are excited to announce the launch of our new YouTube channel, where our new special online roundtable event “Containing COVID-19: A Look Into Taiwan’s Response to the Global Pandemic” can be viewed.
Join us for this discussion with journalist William Yang and researcher Jessica Drun on how Taiwan successfully contained the spread of COVID-19, lessons for the US and other countries, and how Taiwan’s response put Taiwan’s continued exclusion from the World Health Organization into the spotlight. Our YouTube channel will also serve as a video archive of past program Events.
A Year in Review
New Courses
The inaugural Taiwan Studies Program summer study abroad course, Exploring Environmental and Social
Resilience, concluded last summer with a whirlwind tour of Taiwan and hands-on education experiences focusing on the environment. Students from the course co-authored a blog with their experiences.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Weng’s course has been cancelled for Summer 2020 but is scheduled to resume in Summer 2021. More details about the course and the application can be found on our website. UW students of any major are welcome to join in this special opportunity.
ENVIR C 495/JSIS C 484: Environmental Issues in East Asia
Instructor: Yen-Chu Weng
This course surveys contemporary environmental issues in East Asia – China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, focusing on topics of pollution, waste, energy, environmental movements, and environmental policy, and how each country responds to the environmental challenges differently and with what consequences.
JSIS A 472/581 // IBUS 461/561: Science, Technology and Innovation in East Asia—Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China
Instructor: Marie Anchordoguy
This course on Science, Technology, and Innovation Policies in East Asia provides undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to read a few key books and several articles on the role of the state and technological change in industrial development in an historical perspective.
CMS 303: East Asian Genre Films—Taiwan & Beyond
Instructor: Yomi Braester
This course inquires how film genres develop, especially the concept and concept of “minor cinemas.”
Past Events
November 9, 2019: UW Converge Summit 2019
The UW Taiwan Studies Program was honored to be showcased at the 2019 UW Converge Summit in Taipei, a meeting of UW Alumni living in Taiwan and East Asia. Assistant Professor James Lin and Professor Jeff Hou introduced the Taiwan Studies Program and its plans to a receptive audience. James Lin also presented in a Law and Society panel on how Taiwan innovates in its technology and manufacturing industries. The Taiwan Studies Program provides current students, alumni, and greater Seattle with education and programming about Taiwan. We look forward to participating in future alumni events. More information about this event can be found here.
November 19, 2019: Book Talk with Professor Jeffrey T. Martin
Professor Jeffrey T. Martin, an anthropologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, visited the Taiwan Studies Program on November 19, 2019 to give a talk on his new book Sentiment, Reason and Law: Policing in the Republic of China on Taiwan. Martin gave an engaging talk on the development of
the critical theory of police with a focus on the emergence of policed space in Taiwan. Martin paid specific attention to the concept of “qing” (sentiment) as the center of the state-society relationship in Taiwan that mediates the interactions between police and the communities they engage. Through his ethnography and theory of sentiment Martin explores the many intersecting worlds the Taiwanese police force moves through on a day-to-day basis, from supporting the neighborhoods they monitor to participating in activities that strengthen Taiwan’s political economy. More information about this event can be found here.
January 13, 2020: Critical Vote: A Taiwan Post-Election Roundtable
On January 13, the UW Taiwan Studies Program held a public roundtable on the Taiwan presidential and legislative elections that had taken place two days earlier. Three experts on Taiwan electoral politics made presentations: 
Dr. Kharis Templeman (Stanford), Professor Margaret Lewis (Seton Hall) and, and Professor Dennis Lu-Chung Weng (Sam Houston State). Director-General Alex Fan of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) offered brief remarks on the significance of the elections and their significance for US-Taiwan relations.
The roundtable presenters discussed the landslide re-election of incumbent President Tsai Ing-Wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and the successful bid of the DPP to maintain its legislative majority. The presenters discussed the ins and outs of the Taiwan electoral system, the key players and rising stars of various political parties, and the outlook for these parties going forward. More information about this event can be found here.
Looking Forward
Although the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, the Taiwan Studies Program will continue to work toward its mission of public programs, education, and global knowledge. We intend to run future events with digital platforms, with more programming posted to our YouTube channel. We hope to resume our regular workshops, programs, and courses as soon as circumstances permit.
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