[Now planning for 2027 Taiwan Week in the month of October … any suggestions?]
TAIWAN WEEK (Oct 13 – 16, 2025) @ University of Puget Sound
Monday, Oct. 13 | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Kilworth Chapel & Lounge
VOICES OF HERITAGE | 台灣南澳碧候國小合唱團
Performance & Reception
Indigenous Children’s Choir, 15 members, Boho Elementary School, Nan’ao, Taiwan
Introduction by Dr. Huiyu Lin, Teaching Associate & Field Supervisor | University of Washington Tacoma, School of Education, and University of Washington, Taiwan Studies
Prof. Lin will give a short introduction on Indigenous language reclamation and revitalization (ILR²) and its connections to Indigenous cultures, knowledge, and daily life. This will help the audience better appreciate the traditions and stories behind the music as they enjoy the performance. The program will feature seven traditional songs in the Atayal language, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of the Atayal people. Following the performance, there will be a reception and poster session, where students from the first-year Chinese class will present their projects and have the opportunity to interact with the visiting choir members.
Tuesday, Oct. 14 | 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Tahoma Room, Thomas Hall
SIP OF TAIWAN: TEA TASTING | 台灣茶品茶會
Stories & Flavors of Taiwan Tea
Presented by Floating Leaves Tea in Seattle
Join us for a hands-on exploration of Taiwan tea with Shiuwen and Noah from Floating Leaves Tea in Seattle. The session will include three parts: an introduction to Taiwan tea and its unique qualities, along with the presenters’ experiences as small tea merchants in the U.S.; a tea tasting overview with guidance on how to taste and appreciate tea, followed by a Q&A; and a guided tasting of selected teas. Participants will have the opportunity to savor flavors, learn brewing techniques, and discover the stories behind each tea.
Wednesday, Oct. 15 | 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Rotunda, Wheelock Student Center
CONTESTED TAIWAN | 國立台灣大學南樂教授
Explore Taiwan’s contested statehood & current political landscape
Talk by Dr. Lev Nachman, Assistant Professor in the Graduate Institute of National Development at National Taiwan University and coauthor, with Jonathan Sullivan, of Taiwan: A Contested Democracy under Threat.
Join us for a book talk with Lev Nachman on Contested Taiwan, which examines how questions of identity and territory shape Taiwan’s political landscape. Despite maintaining de facto sovereignty, Taiwan remains largely unrecognized internationally, a status that deeply affects its domestic politics. Drawing on 150 interviews with activists and politicians, as well as a comparative analysis of Ukraine, Nachman shows how existential threats and strained relationships with established parties push social movements into formal politics. The book offers a fresh perspective on contested statehood, movement party formation, and what motivates individuals to take political action worldwide.
Thursday, Oct. 16 | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Tahoma Room, Thomas Hall
Wednesday, Oct. 15 | 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Rotunda, Wheelock Student Center
INVISIBLE NATION | 看不見的國家
Screening of documentary about the presidency of Tsai Ing-wen & Taiwan’s democracy
Dir. Vanessa Hope • 2023 • 85 min
Invisible Nation is an intimate documentary that follows Taiwan’s first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, as she navigates the challenges of defending her nation’s democracy and identity amid intensifying pressure from China and global geopolitics. With rare access to Tsai and her administration, the film highlights Taiwan’s transformation into a vibrant democracy while facing diplomatic isolation and external threats. It is both a tribute to the resilience of the Taiwanese people and a powerful reminder that democracy, once won, must continually be protected.
GLOBAL LEARNING IN TAIWAN | 台灣留學實習講座
Learn about study, internships & other opportunities in Taiwan
Discover the many opportunities Taiwan offers for global learning—from semester and summer study abroad to internships, language programs, and cultural exchange. This session will provide practical information on available programs, application processes, and student experiences. Join us to learn how Taiwan can be a dynamic destination for your academic and professional growth.
TAIWAN WEEK (Nov. 6 – 10, 2023) @ University of Puget Sound
Taiwan Week Feature Film: Day Off (Taiwan, 2023)
Nov 06, 2023
7 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
An Award-Winning Film From Taiwan showing one night only at the Blue Mouse Theatre. Introduction by Ellen Y. Chang, Taiwan Studies Program at University of Washington. Produced by acclaimed New Cinema screenwriter-director Wu Nien-jen and starring veteran actress Lu Hsiao-fen, Director Fu Tien-Yu’s Day Off offers a refreshing time capsule of Taiwan’s cinematic legacy by weaving a tapestry of touching human connections around a dedicated hairdresser and her decades-old family salon in Fu’s hometown of Taichung. (In Taiwanese, Mandarin, with English Subtitles).
Day off 本日公休
- 6 p.m. Doors and Concession Stand Open
- 7 p.m. Program and Film Screening
Taiwan Week Documentary Film: Whale Island (Taiwan, 2020)
Nov 07, 2023
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Taiwan is an island country. Although it is surrounded by the sea, its people fear the sea since the politics, the history and the religious beliefs held on this island make people turn their backs to the sea. Oceanic literature author Liao Hung-chi and underwater photographer Ray Chin lead the audience out to the sea and into the water. They prompt us to understand the sea and to think about the possibility that the ocean might become our lives and the future of our country.
Director: HUANG Chia-chun | Year: 2020 | Running Time: 108 min
Film Screening
Discussion led by Asian Studies faculty
Pizza will be provided
Taiwan Week: Sip & Savor, A Taste of Taiwan Tea Culture
Nov 08, 2023
4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.
A culinary team from Kainan University, Taiwan, will demonstrate authentic Taiwanese tea-time snack making including Xiao Long Bao and BBQ pork puff.
The audience will also learn about the Taiwanese art of tea and observe a tea brewing presentation, while enjoying Taiwan’s famous pineapple cakes.
- 4:30 p.m. Opening Remarks by Daniel Kuo-ching Chen, Director General of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle
- 4:45 p.m. Demonstration of Tea-time Snack Making
Art of Tea Brewing Presentation - 5:30 p.m. Tasting, Mingling and Q&A
Kainan culinary team is led by Prof. Joy KAO and faculty Chef CHOU Ching-Yuan, and includes student chefs John, Reeve and interpreter Judy.
Kainan University (KNU) is located in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. Founded in 1917 as the Island’s finest commercial and technical high school, Kainan later transformed into a management college, and then in 2004, became a private university. KNU academics include School of Business, School of Transportation & Tourism, School of Informatics, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, School of Health Care and others. Our guest presenters come from the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, a popular program that has trained many successful leaders in Taiwan’s dynamic tourism industry.
Taiwan Week: Study Abroad for Mandarin Language Learners
Nov 09, 2023
4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Info Session: study abroad programs, internship opportunities, need-based and merit-based scholarships, application requirements and deadlines. CET Programs in China and Taiwan, & Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages Taiwan Exchange Program.
- 4:30 p.m. Program Overview
Roy Robinson, Director of International Programs - 5:00 p.m. Past & Current Participants Sharing Experiences
Allie Chapman, CET Spring 2023
Ben Everett, CET Summer 2023
Wendy Huang, Wenzao Exchange Student, 2023-24 - 5:30 Q&A
Prof. Lotus Perry, Chinese Language and Culture
Taiwan Week Taiwan Studies Panel
Nov 10, 2023
4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.
5:30 p.m. — Q&A
Each of the three panelists is asked to speak for 20 minutes from their area of expertise regarding some issue (or constellation of issues) regarding Taiwan, followed by 20 minutes of discussion and Q&A with the audience.
Two invited guest speakers affiliated with the Taiwan Studies Program at University of Washington:
- Dr. Jeff Hou, Professor of Landscape Architecture, Director of Urban Commons Lab
- Dr. Yen-Chu Weng, Lecturer from the Program on the Environment
As well as Taiwan visiting scholar at University of Washington:
- Dr. Jiun-Yu Liu, Archaeology Curatorial Associate, Burke Museum
Taiwan Culture Night
Feb. 15, 2020
4:30-6:30 PM
MAKING SPACE (This is a re-post; original post on https://www.pugetsound.edu/stories/making-space)
by Anneli Haralson
Photos by Sy Bean
Puget Sound’s first Taiwan Culture Night brings Chinese community together
Aimee Roseberry ’21 stepped off the plane in Taiwan and panicked. As a double major in sociology and anthropology and Chinese, she had two years of Chinese language classes behind her, but was still overwhelmed by the sudden immersion into the language. “I just remember thinking, “Oh my God, I don’t know Chinese,” she recalls. “It felt like I was totally lost.”
It was June, and she was heading to Tunghai University for Puget Sound’s Taiwan Summer Program—an eight-week language-intensive study abroad experience. From the next two months, Aimee and her four Puget Sound classmates would be immersed in Chinese language and culture. They would speak and hear only Chinese in the classroom, room with native Taiwanese students, and experience the culture firsthand.
“It became way easier with the immersion,” Roseberry says. “It was intimidating, but I loved it.”
Back in Washington and in the classrooms of Puget Sound’s Asian Studies Program, Aimee is continued her studies. But her instructor, Lo Sun “Lotus” Perry, who started the university’s Chinese language program and oversees the Taiwan Summer Program, believes that learning in a classroom is not enough. “The hope is for my students to be able to interact,” she says. So this year she organized Puget Sound’s first-ever Taiwan Culture Night, held on Feb. 15. Her goal was to give students like Aimee a space to connect with other summer program alumni, students interested in Taiwanese culture, and members of the local Chinese community. The event featured a performance by Taiwanese rapper Dr. T, traditional Taiwanese food (including boba and rice balls), and a movie screening.
“We have had students studying abroad through the Taiwan program every summer since 1989,” Perry says. “We’re trying to get our students from the program together in one room and give them a venue to talk about their experiences and those interested in that. It’s really an opportunity to create that space for people to get to know each other a little better.”
It was also an opportunity to be reminded of Tacoma’s history and its expulsion of Chinese immigrants in 1885. On a November morning that year, an angry mob forced hundreds of the city’s Chinese citizens onto a train bound for Portland, Ore. Their homes and businesses were burned days later. The expulsion came to be known as the Tacoma Method and its effects were far-reaching. Chinese residents did not settle in Tacoma again until the 1940s and the city still does not have a Chinatown district.
“Because of that, it’s kind of hard to become immersed in the culture,” Perry says. “One of the goals was to bring in members of the Chinese community and say, ‘Hey, look. There are people here who speak Chinese.’”
More than 140 people from the university and greater Seattle-Tacoma area attended Taiwan Culture Night, and Perry says she would like to make the it an annual event. “It’s all about creating a fun, cocurricular activity connected to what students are learning in the classroom,” Perry says. “Through food, crafts, and music, I hope students think a little bit deeper and pursue something that interests them.”
