On 8 June the SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies signed an agreement to run a two-year (2017-19) project on Contemporary Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples. SOAS Director Baroness Valerie Amos and Director of the SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies Dafydd Fell attended a ceremony to sign the document.
While previous projects were focused on the historical past, this latest project will focus on contemporary social and political issues. It will also enable the SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies to organise Taiwanese indigenous related events with 12 international speakers and 24 public events over the two year period. The events will be used as the basis of a new research publication on Taiwan’s indigenous peoples.
Sponsored by the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, it is the third project that the SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies has operated with the Museum to-date. Speaking at the ceremony, Director Dafydd Fell said the Centre was very excited about the project and the opportunity to work alongside the Shung Ye Museum once again. He added that the research publication would be widely used in Taiwan Studies courses worldwide, and said the programme would enhance the Centre’s overall teaching on Taiwan.
Although the programme will officially start in September 2017, the Centre will be holding a number of events related to Taiwan’s indigenous peoples in June and July, including at the SOAS, Centre of Taiwan Studies Summer School. The programme’s events will also be open to the public in the hope that it will raise a greater awareness and understanding of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples.
