Mission Statement
The International Master's Program in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies (IACS) breaks with existing modalities of higher education and ventures into cross-university alliances. It collaboratively engages universities in the University System of Taiwan (IACS-UST), including National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Tsing Hua University, National Central University, and National Chengchi University.
As a result of these alliances, IACS enables the integration of research and teaching resources and admits both local and international students. While the four UST universities enroll students separately each year, all students in the IACS program have access to an inter-university curriculum.
Mission
IACS promotes the use of inter-Asian cultural connections as a novel framework for approaching world history and global cultures. Taiwan’s geographic and historical specificities, unique in terms of the potential for linking the distinct sociocultural experiences of Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Australia while benefitting from academic resources circulated in the Asia-Pacific region, provide the initial points for such exploration. The Master’s program aims not merely to invest in future research talent and support worthy research projects, but also to foster transnational scholarly exchange so as to expand the scope of Inter-Asia Cultural Studies and strengthen Humanities and Social Science research within the region. In addition, the program’s interdisciplinary orientation engages the global academic community by actively and flexibly responding to emerging intellectual challenges.
Objectives
We expect every IACS graduate to have a good grasp of Asian societies, politics and historical commonalities. As they grow knowledgeable about the latest developments of interdisciplinary studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, we also hope to cultivate their sensitivity to everyday changes, both on the local and the global level. The students will learn to think and observe beyond disciplinary boundaries while also receiving proper training in the foundational disciplinary traditions. Our ultimate goal is to foster academic innovation in the face of fierce competition within the global knowledge economy. We anticipate that IACS graduates will be as willing as they are able to take up the most exciting challenges facing them when they step into this dynamic economy.
