SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies awarded new teaching grant by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education
SOAS University of London has signed a major agreement with Taiwan’s Ministry of Education to promote the School’s Taiwan Teaching programme.
The signing ceremony was held at the SOAS on Monday 8th July. The agreement was signed by the Director of the Education Division of the Taipei Representative Office to the UK, Andy Cheu-an Bi and SOAS’ Director of Advancement, Shona Aitken. The three-year grant will allow SOAS to continue to offer its MA Taiwan Studies and extensive range of Taiwan-related courses. Additionally the grant will include funding for SOAS students to conduct fieldwork in Taiwan.
SOAS opened its first Taiwan module back in 2000-2001 and has gradually expanded these courses so that it now has the widest range of Taiwan classes of any European or American university. In 2024-25 we will be offering five Taiwan focused postgraduate modules and three undergraduate classes. The Taiwan teaching programme includes modules on Taiwan’s culture and society, cinema, domestic and international politics, as well as its political economy.
This support has been critical in allowing us to maintain such a wide range of Taiwan classes that are not available anywhere else.
Also joining the ceremony was Professor Graeme Were, the Dean of the College of Law, Anthropology and Politics. He remarked that, ‘This agreement is testament to the strength of SOAS's Taiwan Studies programme to deliver world class education in this specialist field. It underscores SOAS's reputation as a major player in advancing understanding of arts, politics and culture of a region.’
After the signing ceremony the Director of the Centre of Taiwan Studies Professor Dafydd Fell commented, ‘This is a very special occasion, coming just as we are approaching the 25th anniversary of the SOAS Taiwan Studies Programme. Running a specialist teaching programme can be quite challenging, so we are grateful for the long-term support from Taiwan.
This is the sixth three-year Taiwan Studies teaching grant that SOAS has received from Taiwan’s Ministry of Education since 2009. This support has been critical in allowing us to maintain such a wide range of Taiwan classes that are not available anywhere else. Our focus on Taiwan Studies teaching is one of the distinctive features of Taiwan Studies at SOAS.’
Header photo: from left to right: Professor Graeme Were (Dean of the College of Law, Anthropology and Politics), Marc Tsou (Deputy Director of the Education Division of the Taipei Representative Office to the UK), Andy Cheu-an Bi (Director of the Education Division of the Taipei Representative Office to the UK), Professor Dafydd Fell (Director SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies), Shona Aitken (Director of Advancement), Dr. Chang Bi-yu (Deputy Director Centre of Taiwan Studies).
