The course is conducted in English。

As a democratized, globalized and multi-ethnic society, contemporary Taiwan is rich in cultural diversity. Not only is Taiwan often influenced by international trends, but her domestic environment provides a fertile ground for social innovations; as a result, Taiwan’s social fabric and cultural landscapes are undergoing a process of permanent revolution. This course is intended to introduce economic, political, cultural, religious, gender, and other dynamics of Taiwan’s society. The primary goal is to bring about an in-depth understanding of the contending forces that are constantly remaking Taiwan. While the focus is on the present, some historical topics are included for a grip on the preceding transformations in the postwar era. A survey on contemporary Taiwan’s society necessarily sensitizes us to the complicated nature of social groupings. Differences in ethnicity, class, gender, region, age, sexual orientation, religious belief, and lifestyle give rise to highly diversified cultural expressions, among which contention and cooperation co-exist.

Enriching the understanding of Taiwan’s social dynamics is the primary course goal. For this aim, I select published academic works on Taiwan written in English as the required readings for the class. Not all these works are written by sociologists; some are written by anthropologists, political scientists and historians. Interdisciplinary dialogues are encouraged here. To facilitate classroom discussion, I avoid using the texts that are either theoretically sophisticated or technically challenging. Topics are selected because of the availability of published works, the significance of the issues, and finally the contemporary relevance. More explicitly there are two goals for this course. First, for Taiwan-based students, it is designed to be an opportunity to improve English fluency in academic discussion and writings. In addition, even though the required readings deal with familiar phenomena that can be found in the daily life, learning how to view them in a different perspective helps to sharpen one’s “sociological imagination.” As Zygmunt Bauman puts it, one of the essential sociological trainings consists in “exoticizing the familiar”, thereby bringing out the hidden and neglected meanings of our daily practices. Secondly, for the international students, this course provides an advanced cultural orientation to Taiwanese society. Cross-cultural comparisons, especially with home countries, are encouraged. Hopefully, this introductory course is helpful for the later choice of research topic.

This course has three 50-minute sections, and the whole 150 minutes are structured in two parts. The first 90 minutes are devoted to lecture given by the instructor on various topics. During the lecture, questions and discussion from the students are encouraged. Multimedia materials will be used to facilitate student understanding. Usually the instructors’ weekly presentation files will be uploaded to the online repository prior to the class. Then we will have a 20-minute break. The last part is international comparison, which requires more active participation from students. Each weak, three Taiwan-based topics and their online sources will be prepared in advance. They are usually events, incidents, persons, or trends in Taiwan. Students take turns to (1) summarize the Taiwanese topics, (2) to find a related or comparable case abroad or from her/his country, and (3) to analyze the similarities and differences. Each student needs to finish the international comparison within 15 minutes, leaving 5 minutes for discussion. The use of presentation file is encouraged, but not compulsory. There are 30 Taiwan-related topics in this course. If enrolled students are more than this number, students can team up for one topic. Weekly classroom attendance is required. If there is a need to take a leave, students need to use the formal online procedure for prior application (https://advisory.ntu.edu.tw/CMS/Page/44). In addition, participant students need to write two review essays on the selected monographs of Taiwan studies. Please see the suggested reading list below (except for the titles under the category “handbooks, anthologies, and general references”). All these suggested readings will be placed in a special section in NTU College of Social Sciences, and only within-library reading is allowed. Each piece should be around 1,200 words in length and is due in the seventh (October 13) and the fourteenth week (December 1). Reviews that exceed 1,500 words in length will not be accepted. Files should be uploaded to NTUCOOL on time. An ideal review should comprise of (1) a concise summary of main arguments and findings of the book, (2) a critical evaluation of its contribution to the existing literature, and (3) criticisms in the light of future research or suggestions for improvement and so on. Plagiarism in any form is not tolerated. AI tools may be used for auxiliary purposes, such as grammar correction, but should not be employed to generate content. The key requirement is that you carefully read the assigned works and write your own reflections. To discourage misuse of AI, your submission must include at least two citations with corresponding page numbers. All the designated readings will be posted on NTUCOOL. No need for the paper printout. Classroom rules: eating and drinking is permitted, as long as it does not create a nuisance for other people. Use of notebooks is fine, but that of mobile phones and iPads is frown upon.