The Global Taiwan Studies Program (GTS) at the University of Toronto brings Taiwan into comparative discussions and global conversations. Rather than thinking, studying and seeing Taiwan in isolation, the GTS at the Munk School of Global Affairs aims to situate 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 centrepiece of the GTS for 2016-2017 is the launch of the graduate seminar at the Munk School – Small States in Global Affairs: Seeing Taiwan. The course, which is offered to graduate students in the Munk School, the Asian Institute, the School of Public Policy and Governance, the Departments of Political Science and Sociology, features leading scholars interested in both Taiwan and global affairs more generally. Students and faculty will engage in debates about democracy, inequality, environmental governance, cyber-security, gender and migration, among many others. Ensuring the GTS stays focused on the student experience, the program has also drawn together several funding co-sponsorships to provide superlative researchers and entrepreneurial students the opportunity to carry out applied research in Taiwan. Indeed, the Global Taiwan Studies Program is not limited to learning in the classroom, but encourages “learning by doing.” Over the next few years, the advisory committee to the GTS will curate a first-rate seminar series and other forms of public engagement, including lectures, panels and roundtables, and cinematic forums.
The core of Global Taiwan Studies at the Munk School is to promote the cutting-edge study of Taiwan by putting Taiwan into the centre of fluid, dynamic global conversations.