Innovation, a pioneer spirit, openness to new ideas, willingness to take risks, immigration and diversity are some of the things Scott Robinson quickly rattled off when asked to define American values and culture.
Robinson embodies many of the characteristics he mentioned. Hailing from Santa Monica, California, the blue-eyed former baseball player followed his passion for performing arts and became an actor after obtaining a master’s degree in theater from University of California, San Diego.
When he was not waiting tables or doing other odd jobs, Robinson got involved in small film projects and at times played roles at the Shakespearean Festival in Utah.
The unpredictable travel and work schedule finally started to wear him down and after eight years of nomadic living, Robinson pursued a different dream — law school.
Robinson took up the challenge by working for three years as a paralegal at a New York law firm, where he developed yet another dream — joining the US Foreign Service.
The fulfillment of that goal has taken him and his young family to India and Beijing.
Now, Robinson is embarking on another dream as a public diplomat for his country as head of the American Culture Center (ACC), a division under the Public Affairs Section at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
“The ACC is best defined as a source of information,” he said in an interview with the Taipei Times, pointing to the wall-to-wall shelves lined with books, audio-visual materials and popular US periodicals such as The New Yorker and Time.
The ACC houses an information resource center that contains Taiwan’s largest collection of reference materials on an array of subjects such as US history, government, tax codes and individual state laws, Robinson said.
Those who like to keep their finger on the latest happenings in the US or have a keen interest in certain topics can also sign up to receive articles on the subject electronically, he said.
The library, free of charge and open to the public by appointment only, is mostly frequented by students, academics and researchers who need the most up to date information on US society or government, Robinson said.
Students who aspire to study in the US can also take advantage of the ACC to access information about school applications and facts about US institutions, as well as other academic opportunities presented by the American International Education Foundation.
The multi-purpose room to the side of the library ACC holds “American Classroom” — a program in which the public can attend lectures and discussions led by US or Taiwan speakers, usually accompanied by a film, on various social and cultural issues.
Robinson is also in charge of outreach programs, where AIT officers visit schools to give presentations on US-related topics such as the new president-elect.
“As a general theme, the election right now is our top priority. It is a source of curiosity for people in Taiwan. We have enlisted all of AIT to help us explain the election to Taiwan,” he said in October, adding that a group of 25 AIT officers, including the chief of the political section and deputy director, traveled around the country to speak on the US electoral system and the tenets of the presidential race.
Various speakers, ranging from political science professors to political commentators and pundits all contributed to the program by speaking to Taiwanese in person or via Webcast.
The ACC also serves as a conduit for cultural exchanges between Taiwan and the US by bringing some of the best-known US performing arts troupes to Taiwan, such as the Paul Taylor Dance Company. The center has also brought over smaller groups such as the Battery Dance Company and the American Performing Arts Academy.
The point of all this, Robinson said, is to give people a broader view of the US culture than what they see in Hollywood films.
But most importantly, Robinson said, his job is to foster understanding between two cultures that share the common beliefs in human rights and democracy.
“It is hard to compare the two cultures, but something I really admire about Taiwan is the friendliness and the openness of the people. The idea to be able to live in a democracy is really quite profound,” he said.
More information on the latest programs offered at ACC is available at www.ait.org.tw.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique