After years of attempting to inspire more of the nation's youngsters to join the social science professions, the National Science Council (NSC) yesterday announced encouraging results after graduating 1,400 elite students from the council's High School Humanities and Social Sciences Summer Camp.
The annual camp was set up in 2000 by a former director of the NSC's department of humanities and social sciences, Cyrus Chu (朱敬一), camp director Chen Tung-sheng (陳東升) said.
Chen, who is a sociology professor at National Taiwan University, said Chu noticed that while the nation had been investing in producing scientists since 1983 with annual physics, mathematics and life science camps, such opportunities did not exist for those interested in the social sciences, and that those students ought to be offered similar opportunities to excel in their chosen fields.
Since its establishment the camp has attracted more than 1,000 high school students each year from the 318 high schools nationwide, Chen said. The application process sifts out only the top 200 students, with a female to male ratio of 7:3.
The students attend two intense two-week summer programs. The first is between their first and second years at high school, which gives them a "taste" of the eight subjects -- psychology, political science, spatial research, philosophy, economics, sociology, anthropology and history.
The second course is in the summer before the students attend college, where students select two of the subjects and attend classes and discussion seminars instructed by renowned academics, from 9am to 9:30pm daily.
"In the beginning the students cringed at the rigorous curriculum, but after two weeks many yearned for more," Chen said.
2001 participant Hsu Wan-ting (許宛婷) said the camp "changed her way of thinking."
"I've always wanted to follow in the footsteps of my favorite author Hou Wen-yung (侯文詠), who is a doctor-writer," the pharmacy senior at Taipei Medical University said. "I couldn't sleep most nights during the two weeks, thinking about the new things I was exposed to -- scientists should reinvent themselves and instill elements of the humanities in their specialized fields."
Among the 2005 summer camp participants, 65 percent said it improved their critical thinking skills and 100 percent said they would recommend the program to younger students, Chen said.
"In addition, 31 percent of the participants who are now college seniors said they would apply for jobs in academic research, while 60 percent said the camp influenced their career choices," he said.
The success of the camp has also led to the establishment of specialized classes for the social sciences at three of Taipei's elite high schools -- Taipei First Girls' High School, Chienkuo High School and Zhongshan Girls' High School -- "which indicated a change in society's perception of the importance of the fields," Chen said.
Quoting philosopher Hu Shi (胡適), Chen said: "To reap the sort of harvest you desire you must first cultivate your crops accordingly. Talent development sees no shortcuts; the council hopes that activities such as these will continue to bring more bright youngsters into the social sciences."
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