Research & Reflections

fulbright Taiwan online journal

Research & Reflections

fulbright Taiwan online journal

Tag: English

The Journey To Kucapungane

Latoya Kamdang 洪麗雅 August 19, 2020

When I submitted my research proposal during the Fulbright application process, I understood that the architectural sites of the Taiwanese indigenous Rukai and Tao people would be challenging to access. True enough, to reach the Tao site on Lanyu Island, I had to board a small airplane with limited seats. There was also the option to take what was described to me as a turbulent, sea sickness inducing ferry. I opted for the small airplane. But the Rukai site is a six to eight-hour hike up Beidawu Mountain (北大武山) in a mountainous region in Pingtung County, making the trip to Lanyu Island seem simple in comparison.  I am not a recreational hiker, and on Monday, April 25, I came to understand the magnitude of the journey to Kucapungane, one of Taiwan’s major Rukai settlements. Beidawu mountain is located in Southeast Taiwan and stands at an elevation of 3092 m (10,144 ft). A subgroup of the Rukai community settled in this area in the early 1600’s and through a remarkable integration of architecture within nature built housing into the cascading tiers layered in the mountain. Since Rukai members decided to relocate the settlement in 1974 to have greater access to modern

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Promoting Cooperation as an Outsider: Taiwan’s Engagement with the World

Graham Ayres 明剛 August 7, 2020

Taiwan is a nation without a country. This small island the size of Maryland is endowed with few natural resources, was a colony of Imperial Japan until the end of World War II, and for 38 years after the Chinese Revolution endured the longest period of martial law anywhere in the world. Yet despite these inhibitions, Taiwan’s economy grew by leaps and bounds during the final decades of the 20th century. This rapid development is largely attributable to an opportunistic and enterprising population. During this time, the Taiwanese were quick to move into emerging industries (e.g. production of bicycles, toys, and consumer electronics) and effective at ramping up output to meet new global demand.  Today Taiwan is an advanced economy with a high standard of living and relatively equitable wealth distribution. Its self-ruling government is a stable democracy, and the body politic partakes in open and lively national discourse. The level of political and economic cohesion present in this society is a sufficient condition to establish a sovereign state. Yet it continues to be deprived of this status due to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) vehement opposition to a fully independent Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. Beijing remains

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Transforming Mathematics Education in the U.S. through Eastern Pedagogy and Policy

Andrew Paulsen 柏安尚 August 7, 2020

“Every so often someone asks me: ‘What’s your favorite country, other than your own?’ I’ve always had the same answer: Taiwan. ‘Taiwan? Why Taiwan?’ people ask. Very simple: Because Taiwan is a barren rock in a typhoon-laden sea with no natural resources to live off of—it even has to import sand and gravel from China for construction—yet it has the fourth-largest financial reserves in the world. Because rather than digging in the ground and mining whatever comes up, Taiwan has mined its 23 million people, their talent, energy and intelligence—men and women. I always tell my friends in Taiwan: You’re the luckiest people in the world. How did you get so lucky? You have no oil, no iron ore, no forests, no diamonds, no gold, just a few small deposits of coal and natural gas—and because of that you developed the habits and culture of honing your people’s skills, which turns out to be the most valuable and only truly renewable resource in the world today… Sure, it’s great to have oil, gas and diamonds; they can buy jobs. But they’ll weaken your society in the long run unless they’re used to build schools and a culture of lifelong learning.” -Thomas Friedman, The New York Times,

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Researching the Cross-Strait Implications of Taiwan’s Democratization

J. Zack Hollo 霍遠征 August 4, 2020

As a master’s student at National Chengchi University, I took a class on cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan. For my final essay, I became interested in the question, how has Taiwan’s democratization, and China’s lack thereof, affected cross-strait relations? My own experiences of China and Taiwan galvanized my curiosity. Before coming to Taiwan with the Fulbright Program, I spent two years in mainland China teaching English, one year at a middle school in Hunan province, and one year at a university in Henan province. In both settings, nationalism was a daily routine. In middle school, when the national anthem played on loudspeakers twice a day, all students stopped in their tracks and remained still to listen. Only after it ended would they continue their walk to the canteen. At the university, signs extolled the accomplishments of China since the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949, and even urged students to follow the example of Lei Feng, a young People’s Liberation Army hero of the Maoist era known for humility, kindness to fellow comrades, and devotion to the Communist Party. During my two years in China, I traveled widely and visited many history museums. They all seemed to

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A Journey to Explore Knowledge and Obtain Experiences on Springs Protection and Restoration in Florida in 2017

Shih-Hsiung Liang 梁世雄 August 4, 2020

My objective was to gain knowledge and experience from the administrators, researchers, and community leaders in spring protection and restoration in Florida. By staying at Stetson University in Florida from July to September 2017, I visited springs and lagoons, discussed spring protection with community leaders, observed research sites and activities, and read governmental reports related to water quality, flow regulations, and basic management action plan of springs.   Hosting University and Institute Established in 1883, Stetson University is the oldest and most prestigious private university in the state of Florida. The main campus of Stetson is located in Deland, Florida, recently cited by CNN and Parade Magazine as one of ‘’best small towns’’ in America. According to the 2017 U.S. News & World Report, Stetson is ranked in the top 5 regional universities in the South. Currently, based on the 2017 Stetson University Area Guide, there are 77 areas of study, 428 total faculty members, 3,084 undergraduate students, and 1,246 graduate students. The purpose of the Institute of Water and Environmental Resilience (IWER) focuses on water and environmental research to create policy options for the conservation of natural resources in Central Florida. Its mission is to promote interdisciplinary learning and research,

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Stamps

Evelyn Shen 沈亭妤 January 15, 2020

Taiwanese people love their stamps. I was first alerted to this when I read on a blog that each MRT station in Taipei has its own unique rubber stamp. I went to look for them, and once I started, I couldn’t stop. I bought a little booklet with blank pages and began my stamp collection. Visiting each new MRT station was like a treasure hunt now, especially the larger ones with multiple exits. But it didn’t stop there. Once I was paying attention, I realized that nearly every attraction, every place of interest in Taiwan has a stamp. And I began collecting them, filling the pages of my book. Now that I’m at the end of my grant period and looking back over the last 8 months, it’s laughable how close I was to turning down this opportunity. I had been accepted to medical school just a couple of weeks before, so when the Fulbright email came, I was filled with emotional turmoil and angst rather than the expected joy and excitement. Going to Taiwan for a year would disrupt the careful flow I had been building towards medical school, and it would also be the longest period of time

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On Goodwill and Hospitality

Brenton Sullivan 邵雲東 May 8, 2019

Admiring this living room in this guesthouse in Xincheng, minutes from the gate of Taroko Gorge, I am forced to consider what a villager from, say, northeastern Tibet/Western China would do with such space!

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Becoming a Bird

Sarah Haviland 賀莎拉 February 20, 2019

I came to Taiwan as a Fulbright Scholar-Teacher-Artist, and all three paths have been full of discovery. My topic is the human-bird myths that are found in cultures around the world, and that have inspired my own sculptures; I wanted to see how this theme played out in Taiwan’s rich cultural mix. My goal was to collect images and stories, then work toward sharing knowledge visually and linking this imagery with real birds and environmental issues today. I pursued my visual research from the day I arrived in Taipei, looking around me for examples of human-bird connections in diverse aspects of life in Taiwan. I found them in traditional and contemporary settings, in temples, museums, malls, and movies. As an intuitive artist-researcher, I visited as many sites as I could, took photos, and sketched on an iPad. In the streets of Taipei, I immediately noticed posters that show the ageless human urge to fly like a bird and communicate with worlds beyond our own. Current films and fantasies, like Return of the Condor Heroes and Harry Potter, often feature winged humans, or magical individuals with bird companions, who may use their super-human talents for good or evil. The human-bird imagery

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Why Taiwan? Investigating the Biogeography of Flatfishes from Their Evolutionary Hotspot

Matthew Cambell 柯馬修 February 20, 2019

     A key part of any Fulbright Taiwan application is “Why Taiwan?” Why does an applicant want to come to Taiwan and why is it necessary to come to Taiwan for the proposed work? For many participants in the Fulbright program, there are clear connections as part of historical, political and cultural study. As a biological scientist with a background of studying evolution in temperate to Arctic fishes, how did my research bring me to Taiwan?      Flatfishes, the subject of my Fulbright fellowship, are a striking group of fishes with a distinct body plan. In the more than 850 species of flatfishes, both eyes are found on the same side of the head (Figure 1). These are iconic fishes of the Northern Hemisphere. Halibut and flounder are well known to the general public. Commercial and personal fishing efforts target these fishes in the cool waters of North America, Europe and Asia. However, most flatfishes are actually quite small and they may be found circumglobally in marine waters (Figure 2). Not restricted to near-shore marine habitats, flatfishes may be found from the deep sea to freshwaters from the tropics to the poles. Scientific study, though, has focused on

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When Home and Economics Collide: The Opaque Market of Foreign Domestic Work in Taiwan

Michelle Phillips 馬秀 January 25, 2019

     Although I have lived most of my life in China, my Fulbright scholarship was the first time I had been to Taiwan. I had heard much about the beautiful island, and other members of my family had visited and told me stories, but I’d never had the chance to go. And as was to be expected, Taiwan was a beautiful place, with lush hills, beautiful beaches, hot springs, and tons of great hiking trails. Even if it rained constantly in Taipei, the people were very friendly and the city was clean, convenient and quite safe, and I was able to explore many parts of the island in my time there. However, for my Fulbright fellowship, I was not there to enjoy the beauty of Taiwan – quite the contrary, since my research tasked me with looking at the side of life here that no one usually talks about: the invisible labor of migrant workers (often called the “maid trade”), the underside of the Taiwanese economy necessitated by flaws in the nation and region’s infrastructure and social systems. Specifically, I was looking at the system and mechanisms that allowed the foreign migrant domestic worker market to flourish in Taiwan,

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Research & Reflections

fulbright taiwan online journal