Sixty students from the US have begun their study at the Harvard Taipei Academy to study Mandarin and Taiwanese culture following the closing of the Harvard Beijing Academy in 2020.
Cooperation between Harvard University and Beijing Language and Culture University was terminated three years ago due to escalating US-China tensions.
The program was changed so that students from Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania would instead come to Taipei for the study of Mandarin and cultural exchanges.
Photo: Screen grab from Web site
The Harvard Taipei Academy was originally scheduled to be launched in 2020, but the program was postponed to this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of International Affairs at National Taiwan University said.
The program, which started on Friday, enrolled 60 students from Harvard, Yale, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania and Williams College, the office said.
The students can improve their language skills through intensive Mandarin courses, as well as experience the beauty of Taiwan through cultural experience courses and off-campus visits, it said.
They are to carry out field research outside of Taipei to learn about Taiwanese customs and culture, it said.
Over weekends, students can go on excursions to cultural and historical landmarks and conduct exchanges with local students in “interest groups,” it said.
Through these interactions, local students would also be able to broaden their international horizons and connect with the world, it said.
The office thanked the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Harvard Club of the Republic of China for their administrative and financial support.
Meanwhile, National Chengchi University (NCCU) has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Purdue University to promote teaching and research cooperation in science and technology diplomacy.
NCCU Department of Business Administration professor Lo Ming-shiow (羅明琇) signed the memorandum with Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue CEO Michelle Giuda on Friday, NCCU said in a press release yesterday.
Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Purdue University president Mung Chiang (蔣濛) and former US undersecretary of state and cofounder of the institute Keith Krach witnessed the signing, it said.
“Our growing partnership will help accelerate the innovation and adoption of trusted technology and the cause of freedom,” the institute said on Twitter.
The cooperation goes beyond the inter-school level, connecting the national policy development of Washington on the US east coast and the high-tech resources in Silicon Valley on the west coast, NCCU said.
The program is also an important milestone for NCCU, as it is the first time it joined the global supply chain and technology security alliance with its expertise in humanities and social sciences, it said.
Interdisciplinary research and training in science and technology diplomacy are particularly critical, as US-China relations are tense and Taiwan has a pivotal strategic position in the Asia-Pacific region, NCCU said.
NCCU’s research expertise in geopolitics, international relations and supply chains, as well as resources in the industry, government and academia, made it the best choice for cooperation, it said.
The two sides are to launch cooperative projects in teaching and research related to global supply chain resilience, and professional training in science and technology diplomacy, as well as publish policy white papers and case reports, it said.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
RSS