Pune-based FLAME University becomes the first university in India to launch the Taiwan Studies Project. Taiwan’s Ministry of Education initiated the Taiwan Study Project in 2003 to work with top universities in the world including Cambridge University, University of California – Berkeley, Boston University, Japan’s Waseda University, as well as other prestigious higher education institutions in the world. The project aims at expanding the knowledge of international scholars about Taiwan.
The launch was announced at the ‘India-Taiwan: Partners for the Future’ roundtable hosted by the Gateway House, the Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies (CSSAS) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (TECC) the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (TECC) in the presence of Ambassador Baushuan Ger, the Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC). The MoU was signed by Peters Chen, Director of Education Division, TECC, and Prof. Roger Liu of the FLAME University, in the presence of Dr. Dishan Kamdar, Vice-Chancellor, FLAME University, and Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre Representative Ambassador Baushaun Ger, Deputy Representative Dr. Mumin Chen, Secretary Ms. Jen-Chun Tsai, Science Division Director Dr. Chin-Tsan Wang, Assistant Director Ms. Ellie Chiang, Ms. Manjeet Kripalani, Founding Executive Director, Gateway House, along with scholars and practitioners from India and abroad.
The research focus of the Taiwan Studies Project at FLAME, according to Dr. Roger Liu, the Principal Investigator of the Project, is to conduct a comparative study on democratic governance and its practice in India and Taiwan, both of which are democracies but with different political, economic, historical and geographical backgrounds. By comparing the democratic governance practices in areas such as environmental governance, public health, women’s rights, and foreign policy practice, the Project aims to create dialogues and conversations among the Indian, Taiwanese and international academic communities to produce high-quality research in comparative perspectives.
Dr. Dishan Kamdar, Vice-Chancellor of FLAME University said, “I am delighted to announce that FLAME University is the only university in India hosting the Taiwanese Studies project along with other prestigious global educational institutions. The process of getting to know about a different country, their values, their systems, etc. can be a good learning experience and I am sure that it would be beneficial for both scholars and students.”
Baushuan Ger, Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center praised FLAME University for providing liberal education and also congratulated the University for this initiative and hoped that more academic links between the two democracies would happen. He also spoke about the possible actions that can be taken in the future to strengthen bilateral ties.
