2024 GW Taiwan Studies Research Fellows Presentation

Thursday, May 2nd, 2024

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM ET

Chung-wen Shih Asian Studies Conference Room Suite 503

1957 E Street NW Washington, DC 20052

Hybrid via Zoom

About

Speakers:

Tappy Lung is from New York and is a senior undergraduate student at the Elliott School of International Affairs. She is double majoring in International Affairs and Political Communication, concentrating on Asian identities, politics, diplomacy, and development. During her TERP Fellowship, Tappy will be surveying the experiences of foreign students in Taiwan to understand the role of academic exchange in Taiwan’s public diplomacy.

Faculty Advisor: Christopher Teal

Research Project: “Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy Through Academic Exchange Programs“

Hong-Lun Tiunn, MPH, is a research associate at Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity and a Health Policy Ph.D. student at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. His research interest focuses on the labor policy issue of healthcare workforces. He is involved in research projects related to international migration of Taiwanese nurses to the US. Before joining GW, he served multiple years as chief of staff for a member of the Taiwanese parliament and helped to establish labor unions for Taiwanese healthcare professionals. He also holds a certification as an occupational hygienist.

Faculty Advisor: Patricia (Polly) Pittman

Research Project: “Addressing Nurse Brain Drain: An Investigation of Taiwanese Nurses’ Migration to the United States”

Simran Dali is a first-year graduate student at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, pursuing an M.A. in Asian Studies with a thematic specialization in Taiwan/China and a professional specialization in Global Gender Policy. Simran holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from Dickinson College, with a concentration in East Asia. With a background in health studies and an internship at the US-Taiwan Business Council, Simran’s academic journey reflects a commitment to understanding and addressing social, economics, and health issues, particularly in the context of East Asia. Proficient in English, Nepali, Marathi, Hindi, and possessing basic knowledge of French and Mandarin. Simran hopes to bring a multilingual perspective to her research on language barriers impacting the socioeconomic integration of foreign brides in Taiwan.

Faculty Advisor: Kuniko Ashizawa

Research Project: “The Dual Effects of Language Barriers on Economic and Social Integration of Foreign Brides in Taiwan“

Alex Wan is a sophomore undergraduate at the George Washington University majoring in International Affairs and Art History with a concentration in Asia and Contemporary Cultures and Societies. Born in Vancouver, he grew up in Beijing before attending school in Maryland. His interests include collective memory and nationalism in China, and of historic Taiwanese language policy. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, traveling, and skiing. Alex will be collaborating with Aidan Boyle on the research project, “Linguistic Legacies in Taiwan’s Age of Reconciliation”, advised by James Evans.

Faculty Advisor: James Evans

Research Project: “Linguistic Legacies in Taiwan’s Age of Reconciliation”

Aidan Boyle is a sophomore undergraduate student at the George Washington University pursuing a double major in International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution and Chinese Language and Literature. Born and raised in Taipei, Aidan moved to Washington, DC as a freshman in college to pursue higher education. Aidan will work alongside Alex Wan to research Kuomintang language policies and their effects on voter sentiment in the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election. His interests include modern Taiwanese history, cross-strait relations, and the Taiwanese transitional justice movement. Outside of the classroom, he enjoys lifting weights and playing rugby. Aidan will be collaborating with Alex Wan on the research project, “Linguistic Legacies in Taiwan’s Age of Reconciliation”, advised by James Evans. 

Faculty Advisor: James Evans

Research Project: “Linguistic Legacies in Taiwan’s Age of Reconciliation”

Moderator

Liana Chen is Associate Professor of Chinese and International Affairs at George Washington University. She is the Director of the Taiwan Education and Research Program. Chen is the author of Literati and Actors at Work: The Transformations of Peony Pavilion on Page and On Stage in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 2013) and Staging for the Emperors: A History of Qing Court Theatre, 1683-1923 (Amherst, New York: Cambria Press, 2021). Liana Chen’s areas of teaching and research focus on Chinese drama and theatre, Chinese literature of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and Taiwanese theatre, literature and film. Liana Chen’s research has been supported by the Foundation for Development of Chinese Culture (Taiwan), The American Council of Learned Societies, and Sigur Center for Asian Studies.

Examining Refugee Protection in Non-Signatories to the Refugee Convention & Protocol:
Lessons Learned for the Taiwan Context

Thursday, April  25, 2024

12:30 PM – 2:00 PM ET

Online Event via Zoom

About

Speaker

Christine Lin is the Director of Training & Technical Assistance at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies based at UC Law San Francisco and has taught in the Refugee & Human Rights Clinic. Her research on the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and the advocacy of local autonomy led her to pursue a career in international human rights law advocating for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. Currently, Christine is researching the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in non-Refugee Convention signatory states and examining the protection of asylum seekers in Taiwan.

As a Visiting Scholar at The George Washington University’s Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group 2023-2025, Christine is examining the coalescing of a Taiwanese American identity and U.S.-Taiwan relations. She previously published on Taiwanese Americans’ political views in the United States and the status of Taiwan.

Previously, Christine served as the Legal Director of Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre and an Attorney Advisor with the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. She has taught in refugee legal aid clinics at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Christine is on the board of the Taiwanese American Professionals – San Francisco.

Duty and Emotion
Polarities of Filial Identity in Contemporary Sinophone Culture

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM ET

Lindner Family Commons Room 602

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

About

Speakers

Christopher Lupke (Ph.D. Cornell University) is Professor of Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta. A scholar of modern and contemporary Chinese literature and cinema, he is the author of The Sinophone Cinema of Hou Hsiao-hsien: Culture, Style, Voice, and Motion (Cambria Press; 2016). He has written, edited, co-edited, or translated seven books including The Magnitude of Ming, New Perspectives on Contemporary Chinese Poetry, Chinese Poetic Modernisms, Dictionary of Literary Biography: Chinese Poets since 1949, and the multi-volume reference work Wiley-Blackwell Companion to World Literature. He also has edited or co-edited five special journal issues. Lupke’s translation of Ye Shitao’s monumental A History of Taiwan Literature was awarded the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Award from the MLA and his career- long dedication has won him the Michael Delahoyde Award for Distinguished Editing from the Rocky Mountain MLA. Lupke’s current research focuses on the Confucian notion of “filiality” in contemporary Chinese culture, a bedrock philosophical notion and popular value that dates to before the times of Confucius in China and maintains its relevance in Chinese society today.

Humanizing the Conflict Across the Taiwan Strait: Lessons From the Strait Talk Dialogue Movement

Thursday, November 2, 2023

2:00 PM – 3:15 PM ET

Lindner Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

About

Speakers

Ava Shen covers Taiwan and Chinese foreign policy and domestic politics at Eurasia Group. Previously, she interned at Rhodium Group, conducting economic research on China and Taiwan. She also worked as a research assistant at the Stimson Center, focusing on Chinese foreign policy in Asia and China-West Africa cooperation on maritime environmental issues.

Ava obtained a master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies with concentrations in China studies and international economics. She has a bachelor’s degree from Boston University in international relations and French studies. Born and raised in China, Ava speaks Mandarin, English, and French. In her free time, she likes reading historical fiction, going to art museums, running, and playing tennis. Ava is Strait Talk Alumna and Board Member.

Adrienne Chih-fang Wu is a research associate at the Global Taiwan Institute and the host and producer of Taiwan Salon, GTI’s cultural policy and soft power podcast. With an interest in exploring the intersection of culture and policy, her research focuses on how Taiwan can strengthen international connections through nation branding, cultural diplomacy and a strong civil society. She is also a member of the UC Berkeley U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, where she is conducting a research project on the barriers to importing Taiwanese cultural products. Before joining GTI, she graduated from Ritsumeikan University and Kyunghee University with a Dual Master’s Degree in International Relations. She spent seven years living in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan—including three years of teaching English in Japan and Taiwan and a year of study at Waseda University while pursuing her B.A. in Honors East Asian Studies from McGill University. She also worked at the Presidential Precinct to help facilitate the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program for young African leaders. As a Taiwanese-American, the mission of GTI is close to her heart, and she is excited to be part of an organization committed to better public understanding of Taiwan worldwide. She is a Strait Talk GW ’23 Alumna.

Dr. Tatsushi (Tats) Arai (新井立志) is an Associate Professor at Kent State University’s School of Peace and Conflict Studies. He is a peace researcher and conflict resolution practitioner with twenty-five years of international experience. Dr. Arai has led or co-led conflict resolution initiatives in over twenty countries across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East as well as in the United States. Prior to joining Kent State in 2019, Dr. Arai had served as a United Nations Senior Mediation Advisor on a when-actually-employed basis and as the Sergio de Mello Endowed Visiting Chair in the Practice of Post-Conflict Diplomacy at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. He was also a Professor of Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation at the School for International Training (SIT) Graduate Institute in Vermont and previously taught international relations at the National University of Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. He received a PhD from George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution (formerly S-CAR/ICAR) in 2005 and its Distinguish Alumnus Award in 2015.

Dr. Arai’s recent peacebuilding practice as a mediator, dialogue facilitator, trainer, mentor, and designer of systemic social change includes supporting a Nigerian-led initiative in building a sustainable reconciliation platform for the community reintegration of rehabilitated former Boko Haram members; building the West African Initiative for Peace (WAIP), a Burkinabe-led peacebuilding effort; training Syrian and Lebanese humanitarian professionals in mediation skills; facilitating capacity-building workshops for diplomats from Muslim-majority countries; promoting interfaith and inter-communal coexistence in Singapore and Myanmar (including in Rakhine State), and conducting Interactive Conflict Resolution workshops on the Taiwan Strait as well as on China-Japan relations. (Dr Arai’s TED Talk on his peacebuilding practice is available here.) Dr. Arai is the Founding Interactive Conflict Resolution (ICR) Facilitator of Strait Talk

Moderator

A native of China, Professor Daqing Yang graduated from Nanjing University and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He specialized in the history of modern Japan. His research interests include the Japanese empire, technological developments in modern Japan, and the legacies of World War II in East Asia.

In 2004, Dr. Yang was appointed a Historical Consultant to The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group at the U.S. National Archives. In fall 2006, Dr. Yang served as the Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at Harvard University.

Professor Yang is a founding co-director of the Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia Pacific program based in the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and is currently working on a new project on postwar China-Japan reconciliation. He is the author of Technology of Empire: Telecommunications and Japanese Expansion in Asia, 1883-1945. He co-edited the following books: Memory, Identity, and Commemorations of World War II: Anniversary Politics in Asia Pacific; Toward a History Beyond Borders: Contentious Issues in Sino-Japanese Relations, which was also published simultaneously in China and Japan; Rethinking Historical Injustice and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia; and Communications Under the Seas: The Evolving Cable Network and Its Implications.

Chinese Opera in Contemporary Taiwan: Wei Hai Min 魏海敏 and Her Personae

Friday, October 6, 2023

2:00 PM – 4:30 PM EDT

Myer’s Room

GW Textile Museum

701 21st Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

About

Speaker

Wei Hai Min is an internationally renowned performing artist. She is an heir of the Mei School established by Mei Lanfang, one of the most renowned Peking opera artists of the 20th century. Ms. Wei excels in interpreting and impersonating diverse roles, both ancient and modern, in the Mei School and other performing styles. Her performance is acclaimed by global audiences and art critics. Her repertoire includes The Drunken Concubine, The White Snake, and Farewell, My Concubine. Over the last three decades, Ms. Wei has been at the forefront of mastering this ancient art form in both the traditional and modern styles, actively exploring new performative horizons.

Moderator

Liana Chen is Associate Professor of Chinese and International Affairs at George Washington University. She is the Director of the Taiwan Education and Research Program. Chen is the author of Literati and Actors at Work: The Transformations of Peony Pavilion on Page and On Stage in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 2013) and Staging for the Emperors: A History of Qing Court Theatre, 1683-1923 (Amherst, New York: Cambria Press, 2021). Liana Chen’s areas of teaching and research focus on Chinese drama and theatre, Chinese literature of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and Taiwanese theatre, literature and film. Liana Chen’s research has been supported by the Foundation for Development of Chinese Culture (Taiwan), The American Council of Learned Societies, and Sigur Center for Asian Studies.

GW Taiwan Studies Research Fellows Presentations

Wednesday, May 17th, 2023

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET

Room 505

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

About

TERP Research Fellows

Anais Szu Yin Fang is a senior B.A. candidate at the George Washington University’s Elliott School, pursuing a degree in International Affairs, concentrating in Asia Studies, and minoring in Peace Studies. As a first–generation immigrant from Taiwan, Anais harbors a deep passion for strengthening the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and the Indo–Pacific. For Fall 2022, her placement is at the Global Taiwan Institute, where she works to promote intercultural awareness and create tangible policy solutions through her research.

Faculty Advisor: Robert Sutter

Research Project: “Education Reform and National Identity- the Evolving State of Peace in the Taiwan Strait”

Her TERP project examines the impact of evolving education initiatives on Taiwanese national identity, and the effect of these shifting identities on the state of peace in the Taiwan Strait. 

Elissa DeTellis is an undergraduate student at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences double majoring in Communication and Chinese with a minor in Photography. Elissa is interested in food studies, East Asian cultures, and intercultural communication. In 2022, she had the opportunity to study Chinese for six months in Taiwan and intern with a Taiwanese food and beverage company.

Faculty Advisor: Savreen Hundal

Research Project: “Understanding the Relationship Between Taiwanese Beverages and National Identity”

During her TERP Fellowship, Elissa will be using a food studies perspective to study Taiwanese national identity, with a focus on beverage culture. She will also be exploring what values there are about beverage quality and how this influences national gastronomic pride.

Haruka Satake is a first year graduate student at the Elliott school of International Affairs majoring in Asian studies. She was born and raised as Zainichi Korean in Japan and graduated university in Japan. She currently studies in the Elliott School, mainly focusing on East Asia, Japan-Korean studies, and Japan affairs.

Faculty Advisor: Kuniko Ashizawa

Research Project: “Comfort Women and Women’s Rights in Taiwan”

Moderator

Taiwan Humanities Lecture Series |

Sounding Settler Politics:

The Institutionalization of Hakka Music in Postwar Taiwan

Friday, April 7, 2023

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM ET

Room 505

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

How did the discourse of Hakka identity and culture emerge in Taiwan from the second half of the 20th century? And how did Hakka music become typified and promoted alongside the battles over identity politics and cultural governance? This lecture addresses the changing social organization of Hakka music in postwar Taiwan, and analyzes the crystallization, objectification, systemization, and decentering of Hakka music discourse and performance.

About

Speaker

Hsin-Wen Hsu is an assistant professor in Ethnomusicology at National Taiwan Normal University. He received his doctoral degree in Ethnomusicology from Indiana University. His research interests center around issues of music making as embodied experience and social action. He has conducted extensive fieldwork and archival research on music cultures of Hakka people in Taiwan and other Sinophone societies, and his works could be found in edited volumes as well as periodicals such as Taiwan Journal of Anthropology, Global Hakka Studies, as well as Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore. In addition to academic knowledge production, he has been engaged in musical activism, organizing events for promoting cultural diversity, equity, and inclusion. During 2012-2015 he curated world music concert series for Taiwan’s National Theater and Concert Hall, and since 2018 he has served as an editorial consultant for The Silk Road, a digital magazine published by Taipei Chinese Orchestra. Supported by a Fulbright Scholar Award, he is currently doing research at Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage as a visiting fellow. 

Moderator

Book Talk | The Tragedy of 228: Historical Truth and Transitional Justice in Taiwan

Friday, April 14, 2023

2:00 PM – 3:15 PM ET

Room 505

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

About

Speaker

Dr. Wen-Tang Shiu is currently the Director of the Memorial Foundation of 228, Taiwan. He is also an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica. He earned his PhD from the University of Paris-Diderot. 

Dr. Chia-hao Chen is currently an Associate Research Fellow at the Memorial Foundation of 228, Taiwan. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History at National Chengchi University. He earned his PhD from the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History at National Chengchi University.

Moderator

Professor Daqing Yang graduated from Nanjing University and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He specialized in the history of modern Japan. His research interests include the Japanese empire, technological developments in modern Japan, and the legacies of World War II in East Asia.

In 2004, Dr. Yang was appointed a Historical Consultant to The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group at the U.S. National Archives. In fall 2006, Dr. Yang served as the Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at Harvard University.

Professor Yang is a founding co-director of the Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia Pacific program based in the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and is currently working on a new project on postwar China-Japan reconciliation. He is the author of Technology of Empire: Telecommunications and Japanese Expansion in Asia, 1883-1945. He co-edited the following books: Memory, Identity, and Commemorations of World War II: Anniversary Politics in Asia Pacific; Toward a History Beyond Borders: Contentious Issues in Sino-Japanese Relations, which was also published simultaneously in China and Japan; Rethinking Historical Injustice and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia; and Communications Under the Seas: The Evolving Cable Network and Its Implications.

A Coalescing Taiwanese American Identity and U.S.-Taiwan Relations

Friday, April 28, 2023

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET

Room 505

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

About

Speaker

Christine Lin is the Director of Training & Technical Assistance at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies based at UC Law San Francisco and has taught in the Refugee & Human Rights Clinic. Her research on the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and the advocacy of local autonomy led her to pursue a career in international human rights law advocating for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. Currently, Christine is researching the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in non-Refugee Convention signatory states and examining the protection of asylum seekers in Taiwan.

As a Visiting Scholar at The George Washington University’s Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group 2023-2025, Christine is examining the coalescing of a Taiwanese American identity and U.S.-Taiwan relations. She previously published on Taiwanese Americans’ political views in the United States and the status of Taiwan.

Previously, Christine served as the Legal Director of Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre and an Attorney Advisor with the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. She has taught in refugee legal aid clinics at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Christine is on the board of the Taiwanese American Professionals – San Francisco.

Moderator

Jonathan Hsy is Associate Professor of English at George Washington University where he is also Affiliated Faculty in the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. He teaches in the Asian American Studies program with interests in comparative literature, translation, race, and media studies. He is the author of Antiracist Medievalisms: From “Yellow Peril” to Black Lives Matter (2021). Hsy is a founding member of the Executive Board of the BIPOC-led research network RaceB4Race, and he has received fellowships from the NEH, Mellon, and Institute for Advanced Study. His publications on literature, media, and cultural identity have appeared in PMLA, Literature Compass, and Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies.

Taiwan Humanities Lecture Series |

Sounding Settler Politics:

The Institutionalization of Hakka Music in Postwar Taiwan

Friday, April 7, 2023

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM ET

Room 505

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Hakka is the second largest ethnic group in Taiwan, comprising 20 percent of the total population. An affective medium for meaning construction and negotiation, Hakka music has not only been adopted by members of the Hakka community to express cultural differences in ethnic politics; it has also been appropriated by the state to manifest national characteristics in domestic and international education as well as in cultural diplomacy. Although some writers noticed the differences between cultural practices of different groups of Han settlers, very few attributed particular musical activities to “the Hakka” in Taiwan, and those that did wrote from an outsider’s perspective.

How did the discourse of Hakka identity and culture emerge in Taiwan from the second half of the 20th century? And how did Hakka music become typified and promoted alongside the battles over identity politics and cultural governance in the past decades? This lecture addresses the changing social organization of Hakka music in postwar Taiwan, and analyzes the crystallization, objectification, systemization, and decentering of Hakka music discourse and performance.

Speaker

Professor Seiji Shirane is an Assistant Professor of Japanese History at The City College of New York (CUNY). He received degrees in history from Yale University (BA) and Princeton University (PhD), and his work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright, Social Science Research Council, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Moderator