Lecture Series

The center hosts lectures series by scholars, post-Doc. The speaker will give the speech to the public about their research related to Taiwan studies.

Past Lectures

The Recall Wave: Impact and Outlook for the Democratic Progressive Party

The Center for Taiwan Studies is proud to present a special afternoon with Senior Advisor Yao Chia-Wen at the Taiwanese American Community Center as he shares his insights on the recent wave of mass recalls in Taiwan and their impact on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

In addition, After his talk, Advisor Yao will be giving away 60 complimentary copies of his latest book, 《民主台灣一百年：跨世紀的民主運動》 (A Century of Taiwan’s Democratic Movements), to attendees.

When: Wednesday, August 13

Where: Taiwanese American Community Center; 7838 Wilkerson Ct, San Diego, CA 92111

Cost: Free Admission!

The UC San Diego Center for Taiwan Studies is proud to announce a collaboration with UC Berkeley, UCLA, and National Taiwan University for the NTU-UC Project, featuring a special visit by acclaimed Taiwanese author and professor Wu Ming-Yi. As part of this initiative, Professor Wu will deliver two talks on April 30, 2025, exploring the intersection of environment and history in his literary works.

Professor Wu will first speak in Professor Ping-hui Liao’s class from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM, offering UC San Diego students an intimate opportunity to engage with his insights. This will be followed by a community event at the Taiwanese American Community Center from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, where he will expand on his talk for a broader audience of academics, community members, and specialists.

About the Author
Wu Ming-Yi 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.

Additionally, Professor Wu’s work is featured in the ongoing “Taiwan Through Words” exhibition at Geisel Library, a literary showcase co-organized by the UC San Diego Geisel Library and the National Museum of Taiwanese Literature.

Register link for Professor Ping-Hui Liao's class here. Register link for Taiwanese American Community Center reservation here. Registration is free.

"Surfing Taiwan: Past, Present, Future" & "Skateboarding in the Skateboarding Capital of the Skateboarding"

Speaking through the Water: Communication, Liquidity, and Chung Chao-cheng’s Hydraulic-Irrigational Writings of the Cold War

This talk reexamines Chung Chao-Cheng’s literary legacy, highlighting Chung’s nuanced engagement with Taiwan’s modernization through hydraulic infrastructure, particularly the Shihmen Reservoir, and argues that his “hydraulic-irrigational” narratives are complex textual experiments reflecting the geopolitical and ecological transformations of the era.

Date: 3:00 - 5:00pm PST, Thursday, February 27
Location: Conrad Prebys Music Center, Room 254, UC San Diego Main Campus

RSVP: https://forms.gle/CCjBz4EfteHPnMZD7 

• Date: November 11
• Time: 12:00 – 2:00 PM
• Topic: "Exorcising Ghosts: From Taiwan's Spirits to its Soul"
• Location: Ida and Cecil Green Faculty Club
• Speaker: Chen Po-Ching (Interpreted by Jason Chien)
• Born in Taichung in 1983, Chen Po-ching is a graduate of National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature. He is a recipient of many awards, including the Global Youth Chinese Literary Award, the United Daily News Literature Award, the China Times Literature Award, the Lin Rong San Literature Award, the Taiwan Literature Award, and the Liang Shih-chiu Literature Award. His works have been included in Collected Works of Young Prose Writers: Chinese-English Works from Taiwan and Selections from Emerging Authors on Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait, and has been featured in Chiu Ko's Annual Selected Prose multiple times. Unitas has honored him as Taiwan’s Most Anticipated Under-40 Novelist. His novel The Little City, published under the pen name Ye Fu-li, also won Chiu Ko’s 2 Million NTD Honorable Mention and the Silver Prize at the 3rd World Chinese Science Fiction Nebula Prize. He has also published an essay collection, Mr. Adult, the novel Scream Connection (which won the 2020 Openbook Good Reads Award for Chinese Writing), and the novella Dirty Things.
• This year, the museum is thrilled to invite celebrated Taiwanese author Chen Po-Ching to the University of California campuses in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara. Through his discussions on Taiwanese cinema and unique perspectives on storytelling, Chen hopes to foster cultural exchange with the California community.
• Taiwanese cinema in the new millennium has seen a rise in the popularity of horror films, such as The Tag-Along (紅衣小女孩), The Rope Curse (粽邪), Detention (返校), and Incantation (咒), which have captivated audiences both locally and globally. These ghost stories highlight Taiwan's unique cultural essence by drawing from rural legends and historical echoes. Horror, Chen argues, reflects Taiwan’s societal taboos and collective fears, making these films more than mere entertainment—they are cultural commentaries. He delves into the themes these films explore: from the unseen spirits of history to the haunting of societal restrictions, and ultimately, the ways in which cinema confronts Taiwan’s past and present.

• Date: Oct 24th (Thursday), 2024 at 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. PDT
• Location: Virtual (Registration link here.)
• Speaker: Dr. Nathan F. Batto, Associate Research Fellow/Professor; Political Science at Academia Sinica and Professor Ping-Hui Liao, Professor of Literacy and Critical Studies; Chuan Lyu Endowed Chair
• Join us in our collaboration with the 21st Century China Center at the Global Strategy and Policy school in UC San Diego, where two distinguished professors from different fields of study discuss the recent brawlings and fights that took place in legislation, where a new perspective of political communciation will be argued against the widely-accepted connotation of negativity and immaturity that arose from these brawls. Don't miss out on the incredibly unique perspective on the fate of Taiwanese politics!  

• January 18, 2024 (4:00 p.m. PST)
• Virtual and In-Person (Robinson Building, Room 3202, UC San Diego)
• Registration: Link

January 13, 2024: Taiwan’s general election. Who gains and who loses? What’s on the minds of Taiwan voters? How does the election bode for Taiwan’s relationship with mainland China, countries in the region, and the U.S.? Professor Thomas Gold from UC Berkeley and Professor Nathan Batto from Academia Sinica will address these questions and more, drawing on Gold’s just-completed election observation tour and Batto’s long-running experience in Taiwan studying the Legislative Yuan.

This public lecture is organized by the 21st Century China Center (21CCC) at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. It is co-sponsored by UC San Diego’s Center for Taiwan Studies. For more information about this and other 21CCC events, please visit china.ucsd.edu.

 The Origin, The Present, and Future Prospects of Indigenous Literature of Taiwan

 Great Power Competition and the Risk of War in the Taiwan Strait with Dr. James Lee