Global Taiwan Studies Initiative

Taiwan skyline with a row of skyrises and cranes with an older Taiwanese building in the foreground

Putting Taiwan at the centre of global conversations

The Global Taiwan Studies (GTS) Initiative at the University of Toronto brings Taiwan into comparative discussions and global conversations. Rather than thinking, studying, and seeing Taiwan in isolation, GTS situates a dynamic Taiwan into a rapidly changing global context. The program is uniquely multi- and inter-disciplinary, bridging conversations from engineering to policy, from politics to cinema.

The Global Taiwan Lecture Series

We foster public engagement through academic seminars, lectures, panels, roundtables, and cinematic forums.

Our activities

Exploring Global TAIWAN. Funded Student Research opportunities. White text on purple background. The word TAIWAN is made up of photos from student research projects.

Big Ideas Competition: Exploring Global Taiwan

The Global Taiwan Studies Initiative’s Big Ideas Competition: Exploring Global Taiwan supports outstanding student experiential research connected to Taiwan. Read about this year’s competition and previous student research projects.

Taipei skyline at sunset, with the Taipei 101 building towering over the city in the right corner of the photo

Graduate seminar

We sponsor Seeing Taiwana graduate seminar taught by leading scholars of Taiwan and global affairs. Offered through the Munk School's MGA program, the course is also open to students in the Collaborative Master’s Specialization in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies and other departments. The seminar uses Taiwan to examine contemporary and historical global issues, including state-building, environmental politics, colonialism and empire, the politics of memory, innovation and urbanism, and visual culture.

Screenshot of the Taiwan Gazette homepage. Shows the logo at the top and several articles.

Taiwan Gazette

Taiwan Gazette is a platform committed to translating and publishing original reporting from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. Supervised by the Initiative, it publishes translated works from Taiwan’s most popular Chinese-language new media websites, including The Reporter (報導者), Initium Media (端傳媒), StoryStudio (故事), and more. It also covers Taiwan-related events happening on campus by tapping into the University of Toronto’s active research network.

White text on blue background reads, “Mandarin Language Scholarships” above the Global Taiwan Studies, Asian Institute, Munk School logo.

Mandarin Language Scholarships

The Huayu Enrichment Scholarship encourages University of Toronto students to undertake Mandarin language courses in Taiwan.

Download the program poster to learn more and apply!

Areas of focus - Victor Dementiev/Unsplash

CONTACT US

 

 

TBA

Director, Global Taiwan Studies Initiative

SHANNON GARDEN-SMITH

Research Coordinator, Asian Institute