Community Events

Inaugural Ceremony for Professor Nancy Guy, Chiu-Shan and Rufina Chen Chancellor’s Endowed Chair in Taiwan Studies

The UC San Diego community gathered to celebrate Professor Nancy Guy’s inauguration as the Chiu-Shan and Rufina Chen Chancellor’s Endowed Chair in Taiwan Studies, recognizing her outstanding contributions to music scholarship and Taiwan Studies.

The ceremony, hosted by Jason Chien, Program Analyst and Manager of the Center for Taiwan Studies, opened with Dean Cristina Della Coletta (Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities; Chancellor’s Associates Chair in Italian Literature) welcoming guests and highlighting the importance of endowed chairs in advancing global scholarship.

Pei-Chia Chen, Faculty and Academic Coordinator of the Chinese Language Program, delivered remarks on behalf of Chiu-Shan and Rufina Chen, whose generous endowment made the chair possible. Professor Ping-Hui Liao, Endowed Chair of the Chuan Lyu Foundation and Founding Director of the Center for Taiwan Studies, reflected on the Center’s growth and the enduring value of Taiwan Studies at UC San Diego.

Professor Nancy Guy, Co-director of the Center for Taiwan Studies and Professor in the Department of Music delivered her inaugural address "'I use this song to protest': Music and world shaping in Taiwan." Continuing Guy's long-standing interest in the ecocritical study of music, her talk introduced environmentalist tropes in Taiwanese music, concentrating on works that address the environmental degradation caused by the island's petrochemical industry.

"The ceremony was also graced by the presence of several distinguished Taiwanese American leaders and community representatives. Among them were FAPA National President Dr. Su-Mei Kao, Executive Director Anny Hsiao, California–San Diego Chapter President Alex Hung, and At-Large Board Member Vivian Fu, alongside Isaac Finestone, Program Officer of the San Diego Diplomacy Council. Representing the local Taiwanese community, Dr. Ping Wang and Martha Chen-Falch attended on behalf of the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of San Diego, reflecting the strong partnership between UC San Diego and the broader Taiwanese diaspora in advancing cultural and academic exchange. 

Venue: Taiwanese American Community Center, 7838 Wilkerson Court, San Diego

Admission: free

Presented by Center for Taiwan Studies, Taiwan Academy of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles and the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan, and Taiwanese American Community Center

WWII Representation in Film: From Island to Island

Synopsis  

During World War II, Taiwan was part of the Japanese Empire. This documentary explores the experiences of Taiwanese soldiers, doctors, and overseas residents in Southeast Asia during that time. Using cross-generational memory dialogues, family letters, diaries, and videos, the film addresses the complexities of Taiwan's historical memory and diverse identities during that period.

 Public screening 
 Part 1   2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., February 11, Wednesday
 Part 2   2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., February 18, Wednesday

 Director talk and Q&A 
4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., February 18, Wednesday

Director 

Lau, Kek-Huat Malaysia-born filmmaker based in Taiwan. His debut film Boluomi competed at the Busan International Film Festival, New Currents section and Golden Horse  Best New Director nominated. The project won him the Tokyo Talent Award 2015, Best Script Award in 2013 Taiwan, and was selected for La Fabrique. Cinema du monde. His documentaries won Best Documentary in Golden Horse, Taipei Film Festival, and TIDF. His short film Nia’s Door won the Best Short Film Award, and Sonje Award at the Busan International Film Festival, selected for the 38th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

Lecture by Dr. Ming-Yi Wu
 Time: 1 p.m. - 3 p.m., March 12, Thursday 

Topic

The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up Translating Eco-Literature into Virtual Reality

Speaker

Dr. Ming-Yi Wu is a professor of Sinophone literature at National Dong Hwa University and an environmental activist. His works have garnered numerous international accolades and have been translated into over 20 languages. His novel The Man with the Compound Eyes won the Prix du livre insulaire for best fiction in French and was featured in the Berlin International Film Festival’s “Books at Berlinale”. The Magician on the Skywalk was shortlisted for the Prix Emile Guimet de Littérature Asiatique, and The Stolen Bicycle was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2018. Wu’s literature bridges environmental advocacy with deep historical reflection, offering a distinctive and powerful voice in global contemporary fiction.

Synopsis

After his wife’s tragic death, Guan receives her unfinished novel—a story intertwining the endangered clouded leopard and the Rukai tribe’s sacred origin myth. Driven by grief and curiosity, he embarks on a surreal journey into the mountains and her subconscious, guided by her words and the ancestral echoes of the forest, in search of answers, healing, and connection.

Adapted by a story from acclaimed Taiwanese author Wu Ming-Yi, The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up is a single-user, free-roaming VR experience where the boundaries between memory, reality, and myth dissolve. 

A message from Professor Ping-Hui Liao
吳明益之地球智慧探尋歷程—廖炳惠
Founding Director and Supervisor at Center for Taiwan Studies; Professor of Department of Literature

吳明益這個名字，對許多聖地牙哥的鄉親來說，應已不再陌生。身爲臺灣最出色的一位生態、科幻作家， 他於去年（2025）四月底 曾到中心演講，在六月份的鄉訊，許瑞蘭女士即做了精闢、詳實的分享報導，析出其作品（如《單車失竊記》）裏有關生平、家國、世界的史觀， 從中華商場到太平洋戰爭、東華大學、英法書獎、全球譯註等文本內外的互動情景， 尤其圍繞在科技與想像、事實與虛構之間的商榷與平衡的議題上，格外深入討論。

不僅許女士注意到吳明益的作品，連舉世聞名的科幻小說家Ursula K. Le Guin也對吳氏的另一部傑作《複眼人》情有獨鍾， 她以難能可貴的書評去推崇有加：“We haven’t read anything like this novel. Ever. South America gave us magical realism—what is Taiwan giving us? A new way of telling our new reality, beautiful, entertaining, frightening, preposterous, true. . . . Wu Ming-Yi treats human vulnerability and the world’s vulnerability with fearless tenderness.”

三月十二日下午，大家又有機會再度體驗吳明益教授大無畏的柔情細語，聽他訴說臺灣及全球的脆弱生態，乃至其解救之道。而且，共襄此一盛舉，我們要辦新書發表會，吳明益將送幾本他的新著《三腳獸》，而UCSD的臺灣研究中心也會抽獎贈書，給有緣者一冊 Wu Ming-Yi Companion（吳明益著作導讀）。

《導讀》是Cambria出版社2026年初推出，由白睿文 (Michael Berry, UCLA) 、邱貴芬（中興大學）聯合主編，並得川流基金會贊助，其中有十六位教授及譯者分別針對不同的作品去提出獨特的見解，相當充實、易讀。貴芬的導言介紹了每篇文章的大要，而且給吳的著作新的定位，很是可觀。英、法文的譯者也提出文化翻譯的經驗省查，值得細心體會。書末有兩位編輯與作者的訪談及書房圖錄，很能進一步幫助讀者瞭解作家的構思與出版過程。

收入此一集子，我自己的文章主要是提出「地球智慧」(planetary intelligence) 的觀點，呼籲大家去認知、整理動物、植物、機械、人工的經驗、資訊， 以因應全球的氣候變遷及其衍生問題。 我拿吳的作品《苦雨之地》（2019）與西方的環保論述James Bridle的Ways of Being (2022)相互參照，認定兩位生態作家均超越人本主義，而是以動、植物爲師，並透過原住民與新進的機械、人工智慧，做多元匯通， 希望得以維繫地球的生機， 避免暖化、乾旱、海水上升、氣候變遷等大災害。

《苦雨之地》是短篇故事集，大致受了美國生態作家 Mary Austin（尤其The Land of Little Rain，1903）的啟發，但並不針對美西或臺灣東岸的沙漠地理、生物，反而是以病毒、殘缺、絕種、複製、再生等議題， 去展示人與動、植、機器的互應學習， 一位遭棄養的原住民女孩在德國長大，精心觀查蚯蚓對環境的調適過程，終於成了氣候生態專家，另一個失聰的男生則因禍得福，居然聽懂鳥語，而一向平順的工程師卻突然被電腦病毒入侵，整個世界崩解，但雲豹、藍鯨、原始雨林的繁衍或重逢，卻又顯現了柳暗花明的異常生機。

我以動、植物、原住民、人工學習所發展出的地球智慧爲準，去詮釋吳明益的新作， 藉此與英國的生態工作者進行聯結，倡導另闢徯徑， 不必全然依賴官、資方的低碳科技、永續經營、綠能政策， 一方面因爲它們常會被新政權取消， 而且往往淪爲新資本及殖民主義，由大污染國（如美、中、印等）出資、或生產更貴的設備， 那只會飲鴆止渴， 讓第三世界負更多債，離真正的平等環保越來越遠。

上回，吳教授告訴大家， 他很不習慣出國， 但透過TECO文化組的協助，他答應再來SD，在此我們要感謝元月底已返國述職的「貢丸」組長美成。

Lecture: Dramaturgical Exchange - Don't Cry, Dancing Girls
 Time: 1 p.m. - 3 p.m., April 30, Thursday 

Synopsis   

After years away, three sisters return to their ancestral home in Huwei, Yunlin, where relatives seem unchanged while time has quietly passed. What begins as a scramble for the house deed turns into a trial tied to their dying great-uncle’s will: whoever inherits the Song family’s Qianwang ritual troupe wins a NT$5 million prize. Forced to learn the craft, the sisters rekindle memories of their absent parents and rediscover lost family bonds. Facing love, identity, and even ghosts, they dance with their youth to cross life’s trials. The Three Sisters Who Counsel the World is a musical love letter to the land and its people.

Director 

A master's graduate in film from New York University, Director Hui-Cheng (Chris) Tseng is the co-founder of VMTheater, an established theater company aimed at showcasing local culture and music from Taiwan.

Utilizing the direction of American broadway and the roots of the stories of Taiwanese families, Director Hui-Cheng Tseng revolutionized a unique production that promotes the prestige and quality of a broadway show whilst highlighting the Taiwanese identity. "Don't Cry, Dancing Girl" recieved critical acclaim, with the show being propelled into the mainstream eyes of broadway.

National Boba Day Workshop

 Venue   Annabel's Kitchen at UCSD Carft Center [Location information]
 Time   12 p.m. - 2 p.m., April 30, Thursday 

Register now

 Venue   UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley, 7510 Hazard Center Dr #100, San Diego, CA 92108
 Time   4 p.m., April 25, Saturday 
 Admission   $15 | Click here for more information

 Synopsis 

Best Narrative Feature, 2025 Golden Horse Awards

The young Yue knows something is brewing with the arrival of the Nationalist government. There are idealists like her brother who maintain hope for a future without wars. But in the backdrop are also disappearances of dissidents and ordinary Taiwanese. When she gets news that her brother has been executed by firing squad, Yue sets out to Taipei to collect his body. The task turns out to be more treacherous – and expensive – than foreseen, setting off an adventure of determination, guile, and coming-of-age in a repressive society.

One of Taiwan’s great blockbuster directors, Chen Yu-Hsun (Zone Pro Site, My Missing Valentine) delivers an epic family melodrama with a memorable cast who join Yue on her quixotic quest for dignity. In a city of traps and cons, there’s the jovial Kung-tao who sees in Yue the indignant determination of the outsider. Chen spins a heart-stirring charmer that is part-fairy tale, part-historical document, a testament to the spirit of young people holding on to basic decency in the darkest times.

–Brian Hu (Artistic Director of Pacific Arts Movement )

Echoes of 228 History, Calls of Taiwan Lily

 Date  2:00 p.m. － 4:00 p.m., February 28th, Saturday

 Venue  Taiwanese American Community Center, 7838 Wilkerson Court, San Diego

November  9th-11th, 14th-15th: 14th Year of Taiwan Film Showcase

For the 14th year in a row, the San Diego Asian Film Festival will be hosting the Taiwan Film Showcase, North America’s biggest showcase of Taiwan’s most critically acclaimed films and cinema. Sponsored by the UCSD Center for Taiwan Studies, the UCSD Chuan Lyu Endowed Chair in Taiwan Studies, and the Taiwan Academy, the showcase will feature films of culture, drama, and entertainment that continue to explore the boundaries of Taiwanese film.

Schedule:

Sunday, November 9th, Price Center Theater

ACCIDENTAL TRIO - Directed by Pai Ching-jui @ 12:30 PM

What seems to be a surface-level commentary and comedy on the concept of “Healthy Realism” promoted by Taiwanese filmmakers in the 1960s and 1970s for a non-communist Taiwan, this film sets its full nuances within juxtaposing elements of the story, music, and storytelling. Join three protagonists, each with their own story to tell, as they venture into the mental contemplation of the will to escape, and what that entails when one digs too deep into the world of temptations and consequences.

DECATHLON: THE CK YANG & RAFER JOHNSON STORY - Directed by Frank Chen @ 2:40 PM

The unification of peoples from different backgrounds has always been that of a heartwarming one, where cultures mingle and differences were set aside to achieve greatness and feats that humanity oneself could never achieve. CK Yang and Rafer Johnson’s story is no different. Following a historical retelling of their meetup, their friendly rivalry, and the conquest for the Olympic medal when all things seemed to go against them, this film retells these perspectives that showcases the brilliance and beautiful relationship between the two athletes from two different worlds.

BLIND LOVE - Directed by Julian Chou @ 4:20 PM

In this heart-wrenching film, we follow the journey of a mother and wife who, despite having everything as what society tells her to have, has all of these blessings come into question with the reencounter of a past  liaison that made her rethink  her life from the ground up. A commentary on the current status of patriarchy and the scope for the story  told through a non-biased lens, this movie simultaneously fulfills the melodrama film theme whilst applying an innovative way in viewing someone’s contemplations and their relation to society and their expectations.

Monday, November 10th, AMC UTC 14

FAMILY MATTERS - Directed by Pan Ke-Yin @ 5:45 PM

Utilizing and weaving symbolism of the ordinary daily life of a Taiwanese family and the drama-heavy and thematic selection of the seasons embedded into the film, the movie details the world-shattering situations of the family, highlighting the weakness and vulnerable challenges that each family member faces. Named after each season, every member is artistically crafted to match both the positive and negative inflections of each season, where the audience gets to see the nuanced completions of human thought, life, and behaviors.

HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO - Directed by Tsai Chia-ying @ 7:55 PM

A contemporary spin on the Taiwanese urban legend, The Yellow Taboo, it retells of the grief of a couple that lost a friend to the woods. Jia-Ming, the boyfriend of the couple, planned to propose to his girlfriend before she succumbs to death. However, Jia-Ming gets stuck in a time loop, connecting himself to his girlfriend’s inevitable death, the disappearance of his friend, and The Yellow Taboo. This movie combines the traditions of the urban legend with dynamic horror and romance to create a one-of-a-kind film.

Tuesday, November 11th, AMC UTC 14

THE WAVES WILL CARRY US - Directed by Lau Kek-Huat

In this identity-defining film, this movie tells the story of Yao, the main character that returned to his homeland of Malaysia from Taiwan to his captured father, arrested by religion police for his father’s relation to Islam. The film continues to detail and unravel the past of Yao’s family, learning and following the secrets buried under his family as he embraces and drives a new path for his lineage to follow. Yao’s journey discovers concepts of self-identity, and the will to change one’s destiny.

BACK HOME - Directed by Tsai Ming-liang @ 8:10 PM

Taking place in the a village in Laos, the director revolutionizes the way that film itself is conceived and how the art form itself is processed to the audience. Having very little subtitling, camera angles that focus much on the raw aspects of nature and the village, and processing sounds and media that not only include dialogue from the people of the village, but focusing its’ attention on surrounding sounds created by nature, this film changes the landscape of what film is defined as, and how even the simplest and raw forms of media can create artistic masterpieces.

Friday, November 14th, UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley

DECATHLON: THE CK YANG & RAFER JOHNSON STORY - Directed by Frank Chen

The unification of peoples from different backgrounds has always been that of a heartwarming one, where cultures mingle and differences were set aside to achieve greatness and feats that humanity oneself could never achieve. CK Yang and Rafer Johnson’s story is no different. Following a historical retelling of their meetup, their friendly rivalry, and the conquest for the Olympic medal when all things seemed to go against them, this film retells these perspectives that showcases the brilliance and beautiful relationship between the two athletes from two different worlds.

HAUNTED MOUNTAINS: THE YELLOW TABOO - Directed by Tsai Chia-ying @ 7:55 PM

A contemporary spin on the Taiwanese urban legend, The Yellow Taboo, it retells of the grief of a couple that lost a friend to the woods. Jia-Ming, the boyfriend of the couple, planned to propose to his girlfriend before she succumbs to death. However, Jia-Ming gets stuck in a time loop, connecting himself to his girlfriend’s inevitable death, the disappearance of his friend, and The Yellow Taboo. This movie combines the traditions of the urban legend with dynamic horror and romance to create a one-of-a-kind film.

Saturday, November 15th, UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley

LEFT-HANDED GIRL - Directed by Shih-Ching Tsou @ 7:00 PM

An inspiring and telling of the women of Taiwan, the film tells the story of a single mother in her endeavors in taking care of her children while simultaneously finding freedom and safety with the passing of her ex-husband. Showcasing a humorous but real inflection of the life of Taiwanese families, this film explores themes of not only what the day-to-day life of Taiwanese women are in contemporary times, but the strength of what Taiwanese women have in the onslaught of societal expectations and economical struggles.

Directions

UC San Diego Price Center, Price Theater - 3135 Matthews Ln, La Jolla, CA 92093, Map

AMC UTC 14 - 4425 La Jolla Village Dr Suite # H-60, San Diego, CA 92122

UltraStar Cinemas, Mission Valley - 7510 Hazard Center Dr #100, San Diego, CA 92108

All screening entrees (excluding UltraStar Cinemas) is FREE for UC San Diego students, faculty, and staff with a valid UC San Diego ID!

The festival is back! The Center for Taiwan Studies is proud to present the second ever rendition of the event hosted by Taiwanese American Professionals! Come join us as we revitalize the fun spirit of Taiwan through demonstrations of dance, music, food, and so much more! Last year, with efforts in conjunction with San Diego's sister city, Taichung, the event broke 800+ attendees! Continue to be on the lookout as more news and updates on the event as the festival continues to grow bigger and bigger!

When: August 16, 2025

Where: Naval Training Park, San Diego

Celebrating the heritage and identity of Taiwanese people surely can't leave out one of the most important sport in both Taiwanese and American history right? The San Diego Padres has dedicated their game against the Red Sox towards the celebration of Taiwanese heritage! This theme package includes an exclusive Padres baseball cap with the theme of Taiwan, featuring a stylish design of Taipei 101. 

When: August 10, 2025

Where: Petco Park, San Diego

 
National Boba Day

Taiwan Regional Club: Triton 5k Hike