fulbright Taiwan online journal

fulbright Taiwan online journal

Tag: Fulbright Taiwan

Hong Jiang: Nature, Culture, and Geography

Dr. Hong Jiang is an Associate Professor of Geography and Environment from University of Hawaii at Manoa, and her Fulbright project is on Cultural Geography of Tea in Taiwan. While her Fulbright post at National Taiwan University is lectureship, she has been able to use the opportunity to build research collaborations on the study of tea in Taiwan, and has gained much in combining teaching and research. Hong Jiang teaches in the area of cultural geography, and has been doing research on tea and culture in imperial China and contemporary Taiwan.

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Bryce Christensen: Bringing the Xing Moment to Cross-cultural Literary Study

Dr. Christensen taught at National Taiwan University for 2019-20 as a visiting Fulbright professor. He had two classes, respectively on Willa Cather and Mark Twain, in which he found students in different cultures interpreted literature in different but meaningful ways.

Dr. Bryce Christensen, professor of English at Southern Utah University, received his Ph. D. in English literature from Marquette University. His current research focuses on the relationship between science and poetry, on non-Western literature (especially classical Chinese literature), and on utopian literature.

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Brian Bruya: Cross-Cultural Philosophy in the Classroom

Dr. Brian Bruya won his second Fulbright Scholarship to Taiwan in 2019-2020. His project is titled ” Cross-cultural Philosophy in the classroom.” Due to the diversified backgrounds of the students, Dr. Bruya’s class at NTU became an ideal setting to teach comparative philosophy.

Dr. Brian Bruya, is a professor of philosophy at Eastern Michigan University, and an author of books and articles in the fields of comparative philosophy, cognitive science, and educational psychology. He is also a translator and has published translations of a number of popular comic books on Chinese philosophy, which have been featured in the New York Times.

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Dominique Murdock, Jhih-Kai Yang, Alicia Bradley, Yuta Otake: English Teacher Training & Research

The role of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Trainer is to support the ETA (English Teaching Assistant) by providing personal professional development, workshops, and observations. In addition to their routines, TEFL Trainers also helped to organize the first-ever in Fulbright East Asia Pacific Regional Workshop in 2019. Through these projects, ETAs and TEFL Trainers built a tight connection, picturing a fuller diversity of the culture through education.

Dominique Murdock holds an M.A. degree from the University of Southern California in TESOL. Jhih-Kai Yang has an M.A. degree from the University of Taipei in English Instruction. It’s both their second year as TEFL Trainers at Foundation for Scholarly Exchange. Alicia Bradley holds an M.A. degree from Columbia University in International Educational Development. Yuta Otake has an M.A. degree from New York University in TESOL. Four of them were grantees of the “FSE English Teacher Training & Research Awards” in 2018-19.

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Chia-Chi Teng: Cyber Security Education and Deep Machine Learning

Dr. Chia-Chi Teng spent a semester at National Tsing Hua University to help develop a new Master degree program in cybersecurity. Dr. Teng utilizes laboratory experiments to strengthen students’ practical skills. In addition, machine learning is incorporated for detecting cyber intrusion. To Dr. Teng, handling cyberattacks is like solving a puzzle, which requires patience and dedication. He believes international cooperation on cyber education will lead governments to a more secure and self-protectable future.

Dr. Teng has 30 years of experiences in software research and development. During his 17 years tenure at Microsoft, he was part of the development teams for Windows 95, Internet Explorer, Microsoft TV, Microsoft Network (MSN) and Windows 7. He transitioned to academia in 2008 and became a professor in Information Technology at Brigham Young University. His primary research interests are in healthcare IT as he continues to consult and advise a number of healthcare technology startup companies internationally.

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Erich Hester: Effect of Floodplain Inundation on River Pollution in Taiwan

During his Fulbright year Dr. Erich Hester cooperated with his host, Angela Lin and discovered opening up the floodplain can be effective to help break down medical chemicals in the river. Integrating floodplain management into the existing infrastructures can potentially improve the efficiency of the water treatment system. Dr. Hester also encourages scholars and students in the environmental engineering field to explore exchange opportunities. Dr. Erich Hester, associate professor at Virginia Tech, specializes in environmental and water resources engineering. He and his group, “Hester Environmental Hydraulics Research Group”, focuses on how hydrology, hydraulics, and geomorphology interact to influence ecological health and water quality in stream, river, wetland, and groundwater systems.

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My Fulbright Year in the Oregon State University

     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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Fulbright Reflections: Forging New Connections in Taiwan

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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Taiwan’s Themes

     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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Research & Reflections

fulbright taiwan online journal