As a follow-up to the collaboration between the Faculty of Humanities Universitas Indonesia (FIB UI) and the Taiwan Economic and Trade Office, Education Division (TETO Jakarta), FIB UI had created and launched a course Introduction to Taiwan Society and Culture, which was offered as an elective course to the undergraduate students of the 2020/2021 academic year. There were 36 participants from FIB UI in this course. Also, a series of five international lectures was held from May to August 2021 on the subjects of Taiwan’s history, politics, culture and history. In the Public Lectures held on 24 May, 31 May dan 7 June, FIB UI in collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts, Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature, National Taiwan Normal University, presented distinguished guest speakers, namely Assistant Professor Lau Seng-hian, Ph.D. and Prof. Ann Heylen, Ph.D., as well as a scholar from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Ian Rowen, Ph.D. Two other lecturers from the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History, National Chengchi University, Taiwan, were Assistant Prof. Maeda Naoki, presenting his talk on 24 August, and Prof. Hsueh Hua-yuan on 26 August. These Public Lectures were well attended by participants from within and outside the country, as well as students and the general public. Most of the public lectures were attended by more than 100 participants. This shows a positive interest in Taiwan amongst the Indonesian audience.
In addition to the lectures, students of the Introduction to Taiwan Society and Culture Course also presented pre-recorded videos in groups, based on the topics selected, to students from various universities in Indonesia and the general public. The final session concluded with a competition for the best video through a direct voting by the participants of the session. The video titled Periodization and Development of Taiwan Literature: The Seeking for Identity prepared by eight students was selected as the best video, and the students received the first prize award.
The module of this course was reviewed by a reviewer from the National Taiwan Normal University, and it has been revised accordingly to the feedback. The course will be offered again to UI students from other faculties as well as students from other universities in Indonesia in the next academic year. FIB UI hopes that more students will attend this course.
Currently, FIB UI has also created a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) module titled Taiwan Contemporary Cultural Dynamics, which will be offered in October 2021 as a credit earning course to the public. This course is expected to help Indonesians to acquire a better understanding of the Taiwan culture.
