University of Washington to offer Taiwan Studies track for M.A. degree

Washington, Dec. 30 (CNA) The University of Washington (UW) in the United States has announced that it will offer a new East Asia Studies master of arts degree (M.A.) program from next year that includes a Taiwan Studies track.

The new M.A. program is "the first Taiwan Studies-related graduate degree at a major university in North America," according to a UW statement released on Dec. 19.

"The East Asia M.A. at the University of Washington offers students the opportunity to develop a substantial understanding of East Asian culture, history, society, and contemporary issues while focusing their coursework on China, Japan, Korea, or Taiwan," UW said.

The inaugural cohort will begin taking classes at the Seattle-based university in autumn 2025, with applications open until Jan. 31, 2025, the program's website said.

Before this program was announced, the Taiwan Studies M.A. program at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the United Kingdom was the first and only such Taiwan-focused postgraduate degree in the English-speaking world.

UW's new program fills an "academic gap" for students who wish to specialize in Taiwanese studies at the postgraduate level but who previously would have had to take more general East Asia classes, according to James Lin (林于翔), an assistant professor of international studies in the Jackson School. 

Alongside William Lavely, the director of UW's East Asia Center, Lin has been a major driving force establishing the new Taiwan Studies track.

Although Taiwan-related classes and events have been organized by UW's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies since 2017 under the "Taiwan Studies Program" nomenclature at UW's East Asia Center, UW's announcement this month formalizes the courses into a distinct M.A. track.

The program has also received "generous support" from Taiwan's Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, and others, according to the program's website.