Research & Reflections

fulbright Taiwan online journal

Research & Reflections

fulbright Taiwan online journal

Tag: English

What the Taotao Means to Me

Mary Hamilton 何美笑 April 22, 2016

        On Orchid Island, the Taotao is a ubiquitous symbol.  It can be found inside churches, outside of 7-11, adorning many a tourist trinket, and most importantly, on every Tao boat.  Known as (人型 renxing the person symbol), the Taotao is often depicted as a small person with swirled arms and “curly Qs” coming out of its head. Whimsical in appearance, but steeped in meaning, the Taotao represents a person’s relationship with his or her physical environment.  For Tao people, this environment includes dense mountainous jungle, rocky beaches, and the crystal blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean.            Living on a small island over 40 miles from Taiwan and the Philippines, the people of this island have historically had a comprehensive knowledge of their environment.  In fact, the Tao people had such a depth of understanding that Orchid Island was self-sustaining until the Japanese occupation of Taiwan at the turn of the 20th century.  While the Tao are the only of the 16 officially recognized indigenous tribes of Taiwan that have taboos with otherworldly ramifications, many of these taboos actually contribute to the ecological sustainability of the island.  For example, the taboo that forbids island residents from fishing for or eating

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A Rich and Fulfilling Fulbright Experience in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong

Monica Yang 楊雅淳 April 22, 2016

    This paper contains reflections on my stay in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China as a Fulbright Senior Scholar from May to July 2015.   Research-Wide Reflections      Because the Fulbright Scholar Award is prestigious in supporting activities and projects that promote educational exchange and international understanding, I have been able to identify and collect data and collaborate with researchers and business managers in Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong. Since my research topic focuses on mergers and acquisitions among companies in these three places, researchers and data in this area are scattered in multiple disciplines (e.g., business/management, political science, and sociology). It is challenging to conduct research in three different locations within three months, however, it is also extremely worthwhile to exchange ideas with people who are doing similar research or who are conducting business with real experience.      During my stay, I gave guest lectures to graduate students (approximately 60 students and 10 faculty members) where I shared my prior and ongoing research projects. I was also able to serve as a discussant and presenter giving an oral presentation in one international conference (Asia Academy of Management). Several comments and insights that people shared with me

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My Fulbright Journey in Taiwan: Language-Discordance as a Social Phenomenon

Elaine Hsieh 謝怡玲 April 22, 2016

    Social worlds and social relationships are created, maintained, and resisted through human communication. The best of communication scholarship emerges through researchers’ willingness and ability to listen, by recognizing the perspectives of others, and learning through the nuances and complexities of communication practices. This is particularly important when working with marginalized and underserved populations, whose voices are often deprived and silenced, resulting in disparities in their everyday life. These are the values that have driven my research program for nearly two decades. Interests in and empathy for humans and the human phenomenon is fundamental to the scholarship of any social scientist.       I have dedicated my research to understanding how linguistic and cultural differences can create barriers to patients’ health experiences, including their access to and process of care. In particular, I am interested in how language-discordant patients, such as patients with English-limited proficiency (LEP), coordinate and negotiate healthcare services with their healthcare providers. As I presented my model of Bilingual Health Communication (Hsieh, 2016), a communicative model that aims to provide guidance for interpreter-mediated provider-patient interactions, to various groups in the United States, interpreters of American Sign Language often told me that their deaf patients are

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A renewed look at “New Qing History”－Seeking the opportunity of discussion with U.S. scholars of Manchu

Sz-Ming Ge 戈思明 March 10, 2016

As an individual with Manchu and Sibe language skills and an interest in the development of Manchurology, I am following closely a situation in which two scholarly camps have engaged in a fight with virtually no results. One camp is comprised of scholars based in Taiwan and China, who adhere to the Chinese view that a major reason for the Qing Empire’s success in ruling China for approximately three centuries is the Sinicization of the Manchus. The “New Qing History” camp, which is led by American academia, however, dismisses that view as a reflection of Chinese chauvinism, but maintains that the Manchus had kept their Jurchen tradition firmly during their reign over China and that they behaved as foreign, not Chinese, rulers.   The core of the disputes lies in the term Sinicization. For example, when a Westerner reads a Qing history book, he or she may question the justification for Sinicization, or the “Chineseness,” of the Qing dynasty, as has long been the stance of official Chinese historiographers. These questions bring into doubt the Chinese orthodox view of non-Han minority rule of China.    On this issue, my tentative suggestion is to substitute the term “Hybridization” for Sinicization. The

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My Fulbright Year in the Oregon State University

Wen-I Chuang 莊文議 January 21, 2016

     First of all, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the Fulbright Program for offering me the generous research grant to conduct a joint research program with Professor Jimmy Yang at Oregon State University (OSU). Not only did this unique opportunity advance my professional knowledge and research skills, it also allowed me to experience U.S. life and culture in a deeper way. This article briefly describes my research as well as cultural experiences during my stay as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at OSU.     Research Experience      Prof. Yang joined the Oregon State University faculty in 2003 and established a good reputation by publishing research papers in mainstream finance journals. Prof. Yang comes from Taiwan and keeps a close connection with Taiwanese scholars in the finance field. I came to know Prof. Yang when he attended a conference held by my department at National Taiwan University. At that time, I proposed to work with him to implement a research project at OSU in the hope of further improving my expertise, knowledge, and research skills. Prof. Yang not only agreed with my proposal, but also encouraged me to do so. I kept this in

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Reflections on Palace Plays in the Digital Age

Ariel Fox 樊艾睿 January 21, 2016

        During the past academic year (2014-2015), I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy at Academia Sinica. Academia Sinica is a tremendous place to do research—it is such a vibrant intellectual community, with near-constant talks, symposia, conferences, and exhibitions. I was particularly excited to make use of their extensive library collections, which contain many rare manuscripts that cannot be found elsewhere.         In the last couple months of my fellowship, I began preliminary research on a new project that emerged from my dissertation research. In my dissertation, I discuss the plays attributed to what is often referred to as the Suzhou School. This circle of playwrights—many of whom were friends or acquaintances and frequently engaged in co-writing and co-editing practices—was active in the late Ming and early Qing periods, and their plays were widely performed throughout the Jiangnan region. The surviving texts attributed to this circle are generally of two kinds.  Most common are undated manuscripts, copied in a hand that is utilitarian at best and downright sloppy at worst. The overall appearance of these texts—the frequent homonymic errors, the inclusion of stage directions, etc.—indicates that these were probably used in some sort of performance context,

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For What Can We Hope? Concrete Houses and Hopeful Indigeneity in ‘Amis Country

Donald Hatfield 施永德 January 21, 2016

Where is This Stairway Going?        Nearby my residence in ‘Atolan, a Taiwanese Indigenous Communityon Taiwan’s East Coast, there is a simple, flat-roofed house. The house, constructed of steel bar reinforced concrete, resembles nearly any other solafo, or concrete slab, house you might see around this town, which perches on a cliff above the Pacific Ocean. Sand for mixing the concrete likely came from a stream mouth not too far north of here, and the house required no outside contractors: men who had worked construction abroad–some in Japan, others in Singapore or even the Arabian Peninsula–gathered to assist the house’s owners as they made their bold step into modernity. The family had previously lived in a bamboo and thatch house, as had their ancestors for generations. Most passersby do not give this flat-roofed house a second glance. But when you walk into the house, it is hard not to notice a staircase between the living room and kitchen.        As for the staircase? It waits for a future second floor.        In 1978, after three precarious years in Taiwan’s far ocean fishing fleet, the husband of the house’s owner finally returned home. Like most

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Fulbright Reflections: Forging New Connections in Taiwan

James Winkler 商詹姆斯 January 20, 2016

In many ways, Taiwan is very familiar to me: I have traveled through most of its cities, have many Taiwanese friends, and have worked here previously as a visiting researcher. I enjoy the sights, sounds, people, places, and most aspects of life here. Of course, there are everyday challenges: finding the best deals on cell phone plans, traveling to more remote areas without Chinese fluency, etc. Overall, however, my greatest challenge in utilizing my Fulbright grant concerns the research itself. During the course of my Fulbright fellowship, I have met hundreds of people from all walks of life, including Taiwanese faculty, students, museum curators, and many, many others. Part of the reason Fulbright is such a wonderful program is that an explicit part of your work here is the opportunity to truly connect with people here, both in a professional and personal capacity. Fulbright opens many doors that would otherwise be closed to you as a visitor or company employee here; so make the best use of this opportunity as possible for your sake, the sake of your Taiwanese colleagues, and the relationship between the USA and Taiwan! Unlike most other grantees, I specialize in bioengineering for making biofuels, biochemicals,

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Modeling the impact of dam removal on conservation of the Formosan landlocked salmon

Laurie Battle 仈羅利 January 20, 2016

           The Chichiawan Stream and its tributaries in central Taiwan are the last refuge of the critically endangered Formosan landlocked salmon Oncorhynchus formosanus.  Over the past few decades, 11 check dams have been constructed in these streams to reduce sediment transport and to prevent the collapse of riverbanks. However, these dams are thought to be a primary factor in the habitat degradation that has led to a decline in salmon abundance. The dams have impacted the salmon by creating reproductive isolation, by reducing the number of accessible large boulders to provide refuge during typhoons, and by preventing salmon from returning upstream after being flushed downstream during typhoons. In addition, the sand and gravel that accumulate due to dam construction can damage salmon eggs. Typhoons, occurring primarily in spring and summer months, are a key factor in salmon population dynamics, and the salmon have adapted to seasonal typhoons in their natural habitat. However, dams have altered their natural habitat, limiting the salmon’s ability to survive typhoons. The salmon abundance began to decline in the 1960s, reaching as low as 200 individuals by 1984. The abundance has increased to over 1,200 in recent years, but the salmon have

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Taiwan’s Themes

Teagan Adamson 艾婷安 January 20, 2016

     There is a theme of themes in Taiwan. Shopping areas are organized by theme, and restaurants are known by their brand. You can find numerous electronics shops and a five-story building dedicated to computers, cameras, cell phones, videogames, and their respective accessories on Bade Road. For everything related to cameras, Boai Road has been the popular location for over forty years. But if you’re looking for a professional photographer instead, then the streets around Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall offer many options.         The themes don’t stop here—the busiest MRT stations in Taipei all have their own art installations, galleries, or murals designed by different artists. Even different cities in Taiwan have their own local specialty, whether it is a specific dish like oyster pancakes or the regional dessert for which that region has been made famous (such as the cow tongue cookies in Yilan or the many peanut candies of Jinmen). Taiwan is a collage of different areas, districts, shops, restaurants, and historical sites that have developed unique defining characteristics and distinct identities.          There is a ubiquitous theme—found all over the island—that is quickly gaining momentum and manifesting itself in new ways.

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