fulbright Taiwan online journal

fulbright Taiwan online journal

Month: November 2016

Joshua Stenberg: Taiwanese Minnan Glove Puppet Theater in Regional Perspective

This video takes a sociopolitical approach to analyze three recent Taiwanese dramatizations (puppet theatre, Western opera and gezaixi) of the life of 19th Century Presbyterian missionary George Leslie Mackay.

Joshua Stenberg is a doctoral candidate in Chinese theatre at Nanjing University. His research focuses on traditional Chinese theatre forms (xiqu) in transnational and intercultural contexts.

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Nathaniel Maynard: What is the Economic Benefit of the Houbihu Marine Reserve?

An ever changing global environment and increasing species loss demands new approaches to ecosystem protection. By translating the importance of nature into dollar values we can integrate nature into planning policies. However, this work remains costly, the research analyses and critiques the rapid valuation methods in order to scale and democratize ecosystem economic valuation, specifically for the coral reefs of Taiwan. Nathaniel Maynard is a Fulbright Fellow working with the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium. He is researching biological coral surveys and economic modeling in order to determine the total economic value of the Kenting National Park. He received his Master’s degree in International Environmental Policy the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

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Monica Yang: Determinants and Performance of Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions

Dr. Yang compares characteristics and motives of cross-border Merger and Acquisitions (M&A) across the Strait and explores how firms are integrated after acquisitions. Dr. Monica Yang is Associate Professor of Business and Management at Adelphi University. As a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Department of International Business at National Chengchi University, she studiescross border M&A activities among Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.

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Karissa Chen: The Hundred-Mile Ditch, A novel

Karissa Chen’s reflects on several months of novel research on the stories of post-1949 migrants to Taiwan and related history. Karissa Chen is the author of “Of Birds and Lovers.” Her work has been published in numerous publications, including PEN America, Gulf Coast, Guernica, and The Toast. She is the Senior Literature Editor at Hyphen magazine, and a co-founding editor of Some Call It Ballin.

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Opportunities and Challenges in Implementing Digital Equity Initiatives in Remote Areas in Taiwan

Project Background    This year has marked a new milestone in my academic career by becoming a Fulbright Senior Scholar and embarked on a new research on promoting digital equity in Taiwan. I had the privilege to work with researchers in three host universities at National Sun Yat-sen University and Cheng Hsiu University of Science and Technology in Kaohsiung and Fu Jen University in Taipei.         The topic of my project is “Promoting Digital Equity through the E-Tutor Program.” The E-Tutor Program is a nation-wide program implemented by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, aiming to bridge the educational divide among students in the urban and rural schools. This program was implemented in 1996. The model is to recruit university student tutors to work with students in remote areas by means of video-conferencing through one-to-one learning. On average there are 1,000 e-tutors from 20 universities and 1,000 e-tutees from 95 K-12 schools and educational agents participating in the E-Tutor Program annually.     I am interested in learning various models to bridge the educational divide around the globe. The E-Tutor Program has a great reputation and that’s why I was interested in learning more about what this program has achieved

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The Invisible Hand of Great Power Politics: China and United States Fight for Economic Supremacy in Asia

   It is widely accepted that the future of the world will rest in the hands of Chinese and U.S. world leaders. Both President Obama and President Xi have, on numerous occasions, voiced this sentiment. In 2013, in a joint press conference with Obama in California, President Xi said, “A sound China-U.S. cooperation can serve as the ballast for global stability and the propeller for world peace.”1  Their choice to cooperate (or not) will shape every global issue from nuclear weapons and terrorism to trade and technology.  This is the first great confrontation between great powers with profoundly different world views since the Cold War, and yet there is greater cooperation and negotiation between the two sides than that which existed between the United States and Soviet Union.        We have already seen how the complex relationship between the U.S. and China has shaped the internal economic workings of the two countries.  It is estimated that China now employs nearly one million Americans, and it is likely that America employs many more Chinese; furthermore, investment and foreign capital flows benefit both economies.2   Domestically, the impact of trade relations has already been shown and its benefits and drawbacks

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Beijing’s Formidable Strategy in the South China Sea

      The U.S. rebalance to Asia has yet to alter the desired outcome for U.S. allies and partners in the South China Sea (SCS): Checking Beijing’s advances in territorial claims. Instead, despite a few successful maneuvers, most of the strategies adopted by the Philippines and Vietnam have backfired. China has seized every opportunity to advance its claims in response to its neighbors’ perceived provocations and operational incompetence. Let us consider some examples of how SCS competitors act, react, and interact in the strategic pursuit of their own self-interests.

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I Am Who I Think I Am: On Finding My Identity in Taiwan

    “Where are you from?” is a question almost every Asian American has grown up hearing (in addition to its ruder close cousin—“What are you?”). I’ve bristled at that question, swinging from being patient and polite—“You mean where are my parents from?”—to snarky—“New Jersey.” It’s a question that rankles because it assumes foreignness and otherness, one that, in my own country, feels unfair. In America, aren’t we almost all, in some shape or form, descended from somewhere else? And yet Asian Americans are usually the ones perpetually called out for it. There was a short period of time when I would have insisted I was American, and American only. That eventually gave way to my own sense of pride in how I saw myself—as both Asian American and Chinese American—and I decided that I alone could determine what those terms meant to me.      I came to Taiwan to do research for a novel based on the experiences of post-1949 immigrants from mainland China. As a descendant of three grandparents who came from China, and one grandparent, my maternal grandmother, who was Taiwanese, I was very interested in the stories of relocation, immigration, homesickness, and assimilation of these

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Facebook, Busy Weekends, and Young Startups in the Sharing City

   I arrived in Taipei in late June of 2015 to begin my sabbatical leave and my Fulbright research focusing on the “sharing city,” part of a phenomenon that is going on worldwide. From Europe to Asia, activities such as food sharing, co-working, and all forms of commoning are redefining social relationships in cities as well as how urban spaces can be used, activated, and transformed. Specifically, I am interested in how these activities are organized and by whom, as well as the broader implications for city–making.     This time around, my research approach was quite simple. I happen to know quite a few colleagues in Taipei who are working on those projects and have many connections to other individuals and groups. With a handful of initial tips, I started to contact and interview a few people who then introduced me to a few more. Those contacts then suggested even more connections and leads.     Facebook also serves as an important research tool for me. Taiwan apparently has one of the highest rates of Facebook usage in Asia. Facebook, or, as Taiwanese prefer to call it, FB, is indispensable nowadays not only for staying connected with distant friends but also

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Stephen Pan: Unintentional injury mortality among indigenous communities of Taiwan

This video provides a brief overview of indigenous health disparities in Taiwan, and covers current injury prevention programs and research with indigenous communities in Taiwan. Stephen is a social epidemiologist who focuses on the health of minority populations in mainland China and Taiwan. As a Fulbright Post-Doctoral Senior Scholar at National Dong Hwa University, he is working with Taiwanese researchers and community organizations to better understand how unintentional injury fatalities can be prevented in indigenous communities. 

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Research & Reflections

fulbright taiwan online journal