Northern Institute of Taiwan Studies
The Northern Institute of Taiwan Studies (NorITS) is an interdisciplinary hub of teaching, research, public policy and cultural activities.
NorITS is nestled under the Institute for the Study of the Asia Pacific (ISAP).
About us
Established in June 2018, NorITS is the outcome of a coordinated effort by five experts in Taiwan Studies, Prof Niki Alsford and Dr Lara Momesso, as NorITS Co-Directors, Dr Adina Zemanek, and Dr Ti-han Chang as members of the team, each approaching Taiwan from a different disciplinary angle, including history, anthropology, gender studies, migration studies, cultural studies, environment studies, literature and international relations.
The main aim is to promote the development of academic study on Taiwan and take part in social and cultural exchanges.
Their coordinated efforts have contributed to the development of a new narrative of Taiwan Studies looking at Taiwan as a central and autonomous actor in the Asia Pacific region. Historically, it was a centre from which the Austronesian people expanded their cultural and linguistic influence throughout the Asia Pacific, and, in contemporary times, it is a hub between local, regional and global socio-political dynamics.
NorITS enjoys the support of an international network of renowned scholars as part of its Steering Committee. These include Professor Thomas Gold (University of California Berkeley), Professor Ann Heylen (National Taiwan Normal University), Professor Michael Hsiao (Academia Sinica), and Professor Gunter Schubert (University of Tübingen).
NorITS' mission is to nurture the next generation of Taiwan scholars through an engagement with teaching and research practice.
Meet the team
Honorary professors
Thomas Gold is Professor of the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley. He taught in the Sociology Department there from 1981–2018. He served as Chair of the Center for Chinese Studies and Associate Dean of International and Area Studies, as well as Executive Director of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing. His research addresses a range of issues in Taiwan and China. He is currently writing books on social and political transformation in Taiwan since the end of Martial Law and a memoir of his year in China, 1979–1980.
Gunter Schubert is Professor of Greater China Studies at the Department of Chinese and Korean Studies, University of Tübingen. He is also the founder and director of the European Research Center on Contemporary Taiwan (ERCCT) at this university and Associate Research Professor at the Graduate School of East Asian Studies, Freie Universität Berlin. Prof. Schubert specializes in local governance and private sector reform in the PRC, cross-strait political economy and Taiwanese entrepreneurs operating on the Chinese mainland, and domestic politics in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He is also interested in theorizing the policy process in the PRC and in China’s “periphery politics”.
Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao is the Adjunct Research Fellow of Institute of Sociology, in Academia Sinica and Chair Professor of Hakka Studies, National Central University. He is also the chairman of both Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) and the Executive Committee of Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), National Cheng-Chi University. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the President of Taiwan since 2016. His areas of specialization include: middle class, civil society and democratization in Asia; environmental movements, sustainability and risk society; and comparative Hakka studies in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
Ann Heylen, PhD. K.U.Leuven in Chinese Studies is Professor at the Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), and Executive Director of the International Taiwan Studies Center (ITSC), at the College of Liberal Arts, NTNU. She is a founding member of the European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS) and editor-in-chief of the East Asian Journal of Popular Culture (EAJPC, Intellect, UK). Her research covers the history of Taiwan, from 17–20th century, with special attention to Dutch Formosa, the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945) and more recently 19th century relations between the Low Countries and East Asia.
PhD students
The Formosan aborigines and the Spanish (1626–1642)
Previous histories of the Spanish settlement on Taiwan (1626–1642) have focused on the Spanish experience. The literature, however, contains some of the earliest written accounts of the island's aborigines. I hope to look at the current literature on the Spanish in Northern Formosa and extract details regarding the aborigines. I then hope to advance this research, finding new sources and reinvestigating the old ones to compile as complete a story as possible of aborigine life in Northern Taiwan in the early 1600s.
Encounters of the ‘New Woman’: Conflict, Power and Consumerism in Japanese Controlled Taipei and Seoul, 1920-1945
- First Supervisor: Professor Niki Alsford
- Second Supervisor: Dr Mareike Hamann
Gastrodiplomacy in Contemporary International Relations of Asia Everyday Nationalism: Gastronomic Campaigns of North and South Korea, Taiwan and Japan
- First Supervisor: Professor Niki Alsford
- Second Supervisor: Dr Ed Griffith
On the Ground: Are International Organisations Reliable in Conflict Management?
- First Supervisor: Professor Niki Alsford
- Second Supervisor: Dr Alexandros Koutsoukis
Teaching
NorITS teaching and research is underpinned by formal relationships with academic partners and embedded in global academic and policy networks through the activities and research of academic staff. Students are entitled to apply for travel bursaries and to use the various language learning media and resources available via the university’s Worldwise Learning Centre.
Taiwan Travel Seminar
Previous students have taken part in a Taiwan Travel Seminar. This was an experiential trip designed to give selected students the opportunity to experience Taiwan first-hand.
Accompanied by Professor Niki Alsford, the trip involved a week of scheduled activities, events and meetings. Previously the group has visited the National Chengchi University in Taipei, National Taitung University in Taitung, National Dong Hwa University in Hualien, the National Palace Museum, Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, and National Museum of Prehistory. They also spent some days experiencing the Maokong area, enjoying Taiwanese local food in teahouses, exploring the Tamsui district to learn its colonial history, visiting the Taitung area to experience the Austronesian roots of Taiwan, learning Barkcloth techniques and staying in the Amis Indigenous village in Dulan.
"The Taiwan Travel Seminar was the highlight of my year! It was a great opportunity to experience what I have learnt in the classroom in real life and being able to visit such a beautiful place is something I never thought would happen. I learnt a lot about myself along the way while also discovering new areas of research for future projects as well as meeting so many amazing people! If you haven't been to Taiwan I recommend going!"
— Atlanta Waples, student
Events
Transition at UCLan
18 April 2023 (ABLT4 and The Ferret)
Transition is a rock band whose music is a fusion of Eastern and Western musical influences. Their roots are in Bristol but they combine this rock foundation with Asian rhythms and melodies, producing music that inspires audiences from all around the world. Join their workshop in ABLT4 to hear their story of how they connected Asian and British music scenes.
Movie screening: And Miles To Go Before I Sleep
24 March 2023 (FLT2 15-17)
Nguyen Quoc Phi was nobody before he died, but now he tells his own story as a young migrant from Nghệ An, Vietnam, to Taiwan in this documentary. Phi was an undocumented migrant worker, or a ‘runaway’, in northern Taiwan before he was shot dead by the police on 31 August 2017. What made him ‘run away’ from his factory work? How did he find jobs in various construction sites? Why did he start taking drugs? Was he an imperfect victim? These are straightforward questions leading to complicated answers. And More Miles to Go Before I Sleep brings to the fore the nakedness of discrimination and the challenges to humanity if we choose to be bystanders indifferent to inequality and injustice. Followed by a discussion with Tsai Tsung-Lung (Director/National Chung Cheng University), Isabelle Cheng (Portsmouth University), Mina Chiang (Humanity Research Consultant.
Taiwan Festival
Sasa Istenic - University of LjubljanaTaiwn Democratic Transition and Consolidation
17 March 2023 (ABLT3 11-12)
The last talk linked to the Taiwan Festival will be delivered by Dr Saša Istenič Kotar. Saša Istenič Kotar is Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Ljubljana and Director of the Taiwan Study Center in Slovenia. She is also an Executive Board Member of the Slovene East Asia Resource Library (EARL), and an Associate Board Member of the International Journal of Taiwan Studies (IJTS). For her research, she has received a number of scholarships and awards, including the National Sun Yat-sen University award for an outstanding doctoral dissertation. She has presented papers in many national and international conferences worldwide and published various articles on topics related to Taiwan and China studies. For this talk, Dr Istenic will explore the gradual consolidation of Taiwan democratic environment.
Asia Pacific Film Festival, Taiwan part
10 March to 27 April 2023
This year’s film journey was primarily into animation, with special emphasis on countries whose productions are less well-known and accessible than Japanese anime: China, South Korea or Taiwan. The programme also included new cinema forms (VR) and shorter experimental works combining a variety of media and diverse cultural traditions.
Taiwan Festival
Lisa Hou, German Women's Council, Berlin: From "Empowerment through Empathy" to #MyLifeIsNotYourPorn: Digital Feminist Activism and the Manifestation of the #MeToo Movement in South Korea and Taiwan
10 March 2023
The second talk linked to the Taiwan Festival is with Dr Lisa Hou. Lisa Hou works for the German Women's Council in Berlin. At UCLan, she discussed digital feminist activism and the manifestation of the #MeToo movement in South Korea and Taiwan.
Taiwan on Air is now hosted by New Bokks Network
06 March 2023
What is Taiwan for the world and the world for Taiwan? In this podcast series, a group of Taiwan specialists based at the University of Central Lancashire, chat with book writers, artists, directors, professionals from, or with, an interest in Taiwan and explore how the ‘little’ island of Taiwan can be a starting point to (re)think the way we look at the world. Whether you already know Taiwan, you want to know more about it, or you just want to be inspired by it, this is the podcast for you!
Guest talk: Jaqueline Berndt, Stockholm University: Manhua and/or Manga? How to Name Comics in Taiwan and other Sinophone Settings
21 February 2023
Jaqueline Berndt is Professor in Japanology at Stockholm University. Her main academic work is on manga as graphic narratives from the perspectives of media aesthetics, new formalism, and materialities. This talk explored the issue of naming comics in a Sinophone context in particular. The starting point for discussion was the word manga, which entered usage in Western languages in the late twentieth century: its cultural hegemony, its connotation of corporate productions, and attempts to explicitly distinguish manhua from manga when using Western Roman letters as distinct from Chinese characters. The talk also considered “alternative,” often publicly funded comics, often conceived in opposition with manga. It reflected on whether the two types of comics should be treated as one media, or one field of cultural production, and on their shared commonalities.
Taiwan Festival
Emma Teng - Hidden Jade in a Ball of Mud?: Taiwan’s Imagined Geography and Qing Settler Colonialism
10 February 2023 (ABLT4 12-13)
As part of the Taiwan Festival, a series of talks with Taiwan experts has been organised. The first talk is with Professor Emma J. Teng. Emma Teng is the T.T. and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Asian Civilizations at MIT. She teaches classes in Chinese culture, Chinese migration history, Asian American history. In this guest talk she will be exploring Taiwan imagined geography and Qing settler colonialism.
Roundtable on Taiwan Studies: The Challenges and Opportunities of Taiwan Studies in a Changing World
27 January 2023 (ABLT5 15-16:30)
Follow us in this roundtable with renowned scholars in the field of Taiwan Studies, including: Prof Dafydd Fell (University of London), Dr Bi-yu Chang (University of London), Dr Ssu-han Yu (University of Oxford), Dr Chun-yi Lee (University of Nottingham).
Taiwan Spotlight: Vietnamese Refugee Camps in the Taiwan Strait
27 September 2022 (Everyman Cinema Manchester)
Join us for this film screening at the Manchester Everyman Cinema, followed by a Q&A session with Director Asio Liu. Asio Liu Chihsiung was born in Taiwan and now works as a director in his production company, MIMEO FILMS Ltd. (Taipei). Asio is now working on "PLACE OF EXCEPTION: Unknown Penghu Vietnamese Refugee Camps in the Taiwan Strait", which is one of the documentary trilogy (“Place of Exception”, “Chin-Liu-Tao”, “Refugee Boats to Penghu”) initiated by an unknown Cambodian girl in his dreams. And today we are here to watch some parts and discuss the making of this trilogy.
Ann Heylen - National Normal University In Remembrance of Bruce Jacobs and The Rise of the Dutch Empire
09 December 2022 (ABLT4 - 12-13)
Bruce Jacob Memorial Lecture: This lecture will reflect on one of Bruce’s last publications that appeared in the International Journal of Taiwan Studies (IJTS). He assessed the broader context of the Dutch colonization of Taiwan in the 17th century. It will consist of three parts. I open up the lecture by briefly situating Bruce’s research within Taiwan Studies, followed by a discussion of his principled take on 17th Dutch Formosa historical interpretation. The final part elaborates on this perspective against the background of updated research trends on the early modern history of Taiwan.
Sinophone comics workshop part 2
15 December 2022
Workshop linked to an edited book project, "Sinophone Comics: New Perspectives". Participants presented their contributions and engaged in discussions around the key themes of this project.
2021 Taiwan Festival – Literature Strand
The 2021 Taiwan Festival – Literature Strand took place on the 8th and 9th March 2021. It hosted talks from contemporary Taiwan authors, Shawna Yang Ryan and Wu Ming-yi and academics, Dr Gwennaël Gaffric, Dr Ti-han Chang, and Prof Niki Alsford showcasing a range of Taiwan Literature covering topics of climate change and migrants.
UCLan Scholarship Discussion
On the 17th February 2021 NorITS joined the IKSU, NEPCAP, IJS, COAST, and ISAP for the UCLan API Scholarship Discussion. Students heard from funders and previous recipients of scholarships, study abroad opportunities and work placements available to students of UCLan. Speakers included: Assistant Director of the Education Division at the Taipei Representative Office (TRO), Canny Liao, Secretary General of the European Association of Taiwan Studies, Ms Isabelle Cheng, Pagoda Projects, Course Leader of MA North Korean Studies, Dr Sojin Lim, Lecturer in Japanese, Dr Mareike Hamann, Dr Robert Kasza.
Taiwan: New decade, old challenges? Roundtable
The Taiwan: New Decade, Old Challenges Roundtable discussion took place on the 13th January 2021. In the last years, Taiwan has been on the spotlight for several reasons: its advanced democracy has been seen as a model in a region still threatened by authoritarian governments. Furthermore, its quick response to the challenges brought by Covid-19 has been observed and celebrated around the world.
A new decade has just started, and Taiwan is in a position to make a difference regionally and globally as never before. In this roundtable we will be discussing the old and new challenges that have been presenting to Taiwan at the turn of this new decade, with the aim to understand its role in regional and global politics for the next future.
Including international speakers:
- Professor Gunter Schubert, University of Tuebingen (Germany)
- Dr Stefano Pelaggi, Sapienza University (Italy)
- Dr Prashant Kumar Singh, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (India)
- Dr Fabricio A. Fonseca, Tamkang University (Taiwan)
- Donovan Courtney, Co-founder/Editor/Host at Taiwan Report, Co-publisher Compass Magazine (Taiwan)
- Dr Greg Coutaz, Tamkang University (Taiwan)
Taiwan’s Lost Commercial Cinema tour 2020 at UCLan
Taking place between the 14th – 20th October 2020, the Lost Commercial Cinema Tour brought Taiwan Films to the UK! The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)’s Northern Institute of Taiwan Studies (NorITS) worked with the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute and King’s College London to bring Taiwan Language Cinema to the UK as part of the 2020 “Taiwan’s Lost Commercial Cinema tour”.
UCLan has chosen to screen 2 long films and 1 one short film, accompanied by a special guest talk by Dr Ming-Yeh Rawnsley including: The Six Suspects 六個嫌疑犯, The Rice Dumpling Vendors 燒肉粽, and Binding 燒肉粽2019.
“Politics of the Everyday: Taiwanese-language Cinema of the 1950s-1960s” Guest Talk with Ming-yeh Rawnsley
In October 2020, The Northern Institute of Taiwan Studies (NorITS) hosted a cultural event, “Taiwan's Lost Commercial Cinema tour 2020 at UCLan”, in partnership with Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI), King’s College London and The Institute for the Study of the Asia Pacific (ISAP). Two long and one short Taiwanese films - The Six Suspects 六個嫌疑犯, The Rice Dumpling Vendors 燒肉粽, Binding 燒肉粽2019 were screened freely to the worldwide audience who are interested in early Taiwanese cinema. The screening is followed by an external guest lecture, “Politics of the everyday: Taiwanese-language cinema of the 1950s–1960s”, presented by Dr Ming-Yeh Rawnsley. Dr Rawnsley addressed the social and cultural values of Taiwanese language cinema (or the so-called Hoklo topolect films, taiyupian) of the 50s and 60s. Through plot design and onscreen solutions to family crises, the films revealed the struggle of their makers and their intended audiences to reconcile different sets of conflicting values in a changing society of Taiwan.
The Role of Social Media in Shaping (Un)Democratic Processes
On 9 March 2020, we hosted an international roundtable at the People’s History Museum in Manchester. It featured talks from 11 participants.
Speakers:
- George Ogola, UCLan
- Nicole Yung Au, Oxford Internet Institute
- Haddas Emma Kedar, Independent Scholar
- Brian Ball, New College of Humanities
- Wu Min Hsuan, Deputy CEO of Doublethink Lab
- Dickens Olewe, BBC Journalist
- Omar Al-Ghazzi, Assistant Professor from the LSE
- Filip Jirous, Prague-based Synopsis Organisation.
- Gizem Gültekin dr.Várkonyi, LLM in European Public Law University of Szeged
- Lara Momesso, UCLan
- Ti-han Chang, UCLan
- Adina Zemanek, UCLan
Asia Pacific Film Festival 2020
The Asia Pacific Film Festival took place in February 2020, bringing together films from across the Asia Pacific for screenings and Q&A sessions with the Directors. Films screened included: The Road, Anotes Ark, The Rice Bomber, Let It Be, Plastic China, Sanggye-Dong Olympic, Garden, Zoological, Whispering Star, and No Mans Zone. There were also talks from Sabrina Qiong Yu, Irena Hayter, Director Zanbo Zhang, and Director Toshi Fujiwara.
Taiwan Scholarship Talk
Ever wanted to study in Taiwan? A talk by the Taipei representative office in the UK took place on the 10 February to discuss what postgraduate scholarships and funding are available to students and tips on how to apply.
Reimagining Japanese Colonisation and Multiculturalism in Post-Taiwan New Cinema
On 8 November 2019, How Wee Ng visited UCLan to give a talk on post-colonial representation in Taiwan, using the massively successful film Cape No. 7 as an example of contemporary Taiwan cinema challenging past official narratives about the Japanese colonisation of Taiwan.
Brilliant city Photo Exhibition opening event
On this occasion, Dr Lara Momesso (UCLan) and COAST affiliated research felloe Tobi Openshaw has a section titled "Old and new others of Taiwan: indigenous people and new residents" featuring photographs of indigenous people and new residents in Taiwan.
Dr Lara Momesso and Tobie Openshaw thank all the indigenous friends and migrant sisters & brothers who shared their stories with then and made this project possible.
Remembering Su Beng 1918–2019: Taiwan and its 400 Year History
On 28 October 2019, we hosted a roundtable discussing 400 years of Taiwan History and Su Beng’s life and achievements as one of Taiwan’s long standing independence activists.
Speakers:
- Dr Niki Alsford
- Dr Adina Zemanek
- Dr Ti-han Chang
- Dr Lara Momesso
Student trip to Taiwan
Between the 25 April and 4 May 2019, a group of five students, accompanied by their lecturers, Dr Niki Alsford and Dr Lara Momesso went to Taiwan as part of the Taiwan in the Asia Pacific module.
Activities included:
- Visiting National Chengchi, National Taitung, and National Dong Hwa University
- Enjoying Taiwanese local food in local Teahouses
- Visiting the Tamshui district
- Visiting the National Palace Museum
- Visiting the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines
- Learning the barkcloth technique to make tree bark bags in the Bunun aboriginal village
- Visiting the National Museum of Prehistory
- Staying overnight in a Amis aboriginal village
- Meeting famous Amis singer and songwriter Suming Rupi
Taiwan Festival
We held our first Taiwan Festival on 25–26 March 2019. As part of the event, Professor David Blundell from the University of California, Berkeley gave a fascinating talk on ‘Mapping Austronesia: Linguistics and Archaeology’. Meanwhile, Director Futuru Tsai from the National Taitung University gave a talk on ‘My Ethnographic Filmmaking and Amis Community’.
Their talks can be viewed on the University Media Library.
Study in Taiwan!: Taipei representative Office in the UK Scholarship Talk
A TRO Scholarship talk took place in Adelphi Building lecture theatre on 8 March, to discuss available scholarships and bursaries by the Taipei Representative Office in the UK for students looking to further their education in Taiwan.
The Shifting Chronotopes of Indigeneity in Taiwanese Documentary Film
On 13 February 2019, Kerim Friedman from the National Dong Hwa University came to UCLan to discuss the ever-changing representations of Taiwanese indigenous peoples in film by indigenous and non-indigenous directors alike. To support his argument, Kerim Friedman drew from more than sixty films found in the archives of the Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival (TIEFF), offering a snapshot of the changes in how indigenous personhood has been constructed in Taiwanese documentary films going back to the end of the martial law era.
Recent Trends in Cross-Strait Relations
On 11 February 2019, we held a roundtable discussing the talk given by General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping, and the response from President Tsai.
Speakers included:
- Andreas Fulda, University of Nottingham
- Chia-yu Liang, University of Sussex
- Dean Karalekas, Taiwan Centre for Security Studies
- Niki Alsford, UCLan
- Peter Gries, University of Manchester
- Stephane Corcuff, Lyon University
- Tao Wang, University of Manchester
Tobie Openshaw – Local but not Local; a Lowai in Taiwan.
Tobie Openshaw, a photographer for the National Geographic and filmmaker in Taiwan visited UCLan to discuss his experiences and documentation of modern Taiwan Culture on the 2 November.
Their talk featured subjects such as the Sunflower Movement, Betelnut Girls and President Tsai-Ing Wen's apology to the island's indigenous people.
Indigenous Poster Design Competition
Between 29 October and 2 November 2018, we hosted the Indigenous Poster Design Competition, showcasing award-winning art from 51 different schools around Taiwan.
The exhibition also included a talk from Fu-Ning Hsu, winner of the Competition’s Gold Award, in which she discussed her work and the role it has in bringing continuous efforts towards understanding of local cultural diversities and Taiwanese Indigenous Culture. Tobie Openshaw, a photographer for the national geographic in Taiwan also discussed his experiences and documentation of modern Taiwan Culture.
The Landscape of Taiwan Studies and Korean Studies
The ‘International Workshop on the Landscape of Taiwan Studies and Korean Studies’ was held on 25–26 June 2018. Prominent academics from across the world came to the workshop to discuss current state of research for global Taiwan Studies and Korean Studies. There was also a roundtable discussion on the similarities between the two fields and how each can learn from the other.
The conference was organised based on the following seven themes:
- Field of Study and Research Resources
- Historiography and History
- Politics and Economics
- Changes in Culture
- International Relations
- Changes in Society
- Landscape of Taiwan Studies and Korean Studies
Speakers:
- Ann Heylen, National Taiwan Normal University
- Bi-yu Chang, SOAS, University of London
- Bruce Jacobs, Monash University
- Dafydd Fell, SOAS, University of London
- Isabelle Cheng, University of Portsmouth
- James Person, Johns Hopkins University
- Jeong-Im Hyun, University of Turku
- Jung-Sim Kim, Monash University
- Lara Momesso, University of Central Lancashire
- Melissa Brown, Harvard University
- Michael Hsiao, Academia Sinica
- Michael Seth, James Madison University
- Nataša Visočnik Gerzelj, University of Ljubljana
- Nicolas Levi, Polish Academy of Sciences
- Niki Alsford, University of Central Lancashire
- Owen Miller, SOAS, University of London
- Sojin Lim, University of Central Lancashire
- Táňa Dluhošová, Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences
- Thomas Gold, University of California, Berkeley
- Virginie Grzelczyk, Aston University
- Wonhyuk Lim, KDI School
