Taiwan Studies Initiative

Taiwan Day 2026: Milk Tea Month

Routes of Taiwan Tea

Dr. Po-Yi Hung, National Taiwan University

 

This event, based on Dr. Hung's book Routes of Taiwan Tea: Mobility, Borders, and Territoriality will explore Taiwanese tea production and trade through a geographic lens.

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The Milk Tea Alliance

Dr. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, UC Irvine

Friday, April 24th

12:00 - 1:30 PM | GA 2067

This event, based on Dr. Wasserstrom's book The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asia's Struggle Against Autocracy and Beijing will chronicle the informal "milk tea alliance," a network of activists in Southeast Asia.

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Milk Tea Month Boba Workshop & Reception

Friday, April 17th

Workshop: 5:00 - 5:30 PM | GA 1122

Reception: 5:30 - 6:30 PM | GA 1050

Join the Taiwan Studies Initiative and NTU Huayu BEST for this year's Taiwan Day cultural event! During the workshop, participants will watch a demonstration of how boba tea gets made. During the reception, participants will move to the Global Lounge and have the chance to assemble their own boba tea, learn more about Taiwanese tea culture, and have the chance to win prizes!

Register for the workshop

Reception Information

New Initiatives

IU-Taiwan Collaborations in Music Project

Fostering cultural and academic exchanges between IU and Taiwan through music.

North American Taiwan Studies Online Summer School

Helping students and scholars deepen their understanding of Taiwan-related topics.

Funding Opportunities

Taiwan Travel Grants - Now Open!

This year's Faculty and Student Taiwan Travel Grants are now accepting applications! One faculty member will receive $3,000 and one graduate or undergraduate student will receive $2,500 to pursue research or language learning in Taiwan during Summer 2026. For more details, please see the application. 

Applications are due by March 13, 2026. 

Faculty Application

Student Application

Questions? Email taiwansp@iu.edu.

Course Development Grant

Congratulations to the winners of the inaugural Taiwan Studies Initiative Course Development Grant (CDG), which aims to further education about Taiwan at IU Bloomington. IU professors Dr. Yingling Bao and Dr. Tie Xiao were both awarded a grant to fund the revision of an existing course to include more Taiwan-centric material. 

Check back later for more course development and faculty funding opportunities!

Past Events

September 13, 5:00-7:00 PM

IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Part of the IU-Taiwan Collaborations in Music project organized and produced by Hsuan Chang Kitano, this concert will showcase the beauty of East Asian flute through the performance of renowned Taiwanese flautist Hsiao-Feng Lin. 

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Progressive Family Law as an Anticolonial Strategy: The Case of Colonial (and Contemporary) Taiwan

Professor Yun-Ru Chen, National Taiwan University

August 28, 1:30 - 3:00 PM

GA 2067

This talk challenged conventional narratives by examining Japan-ruled Taiwan (1895–1945), arguing that progressive family law can function as a mode of anti-colonial resistance. 

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Embracing the Unknown: Leadership Lessons from Taiwan’s First Female International Baseball Umpire.

Ambassador-at-Large Po-Chun (Sophiyah) Liu

September 5, 2:00 - 3:15 PM

GA 1106

As Taiwan’s first female baseball umpire, Ambassador Liu drew on her personal journey and experiences on the field to share her perspectives on sports and gender equality.

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Paul Ueda

Friday February 7, 2025
1:30 pm, GA 3134

An “Irreplaceable Local Language”: Taiwanese Orthography and Sociolinguistic Identity Construction

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Dr. Chang-Min Yu

Friday March 7, 2025
1:30 pm, GA 2067

If in the Mountains, Some Chinese and Taiwanese: On Chen Yao-chi’s Mountain (1966)

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On Tuesday, February 18th, the Taiwan Studies Initiative hosted a screening of the acclaimed documentary "Invisible Nation," which follows the struggles of Taiwan's first female president, Tsai Ing-Wen. The film was followed by a discussion with expert faculty. 

When: February 18th, 6-9 pm

Where: Shreve Auditorium

Dr. Michelle King, UNC Chapel Hill

Friday, October 18, 2024

Chop Fry Watch Learn: Thinking Through Chinese Cookbooks and Cuisine with Fu Pei-mei

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Dr. Pei-Chia Lan, National Taiwan University

Friday, October 25, 2024

Multicultural Dividends or Geopolitical Stigma?: Identity Management of Second-Generation Youth in Taiwan

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Exploring Taiwan: From Historical Roots to Contemporary Issues

This one-day in-person workshop hosted various graduate students from the Midwest and beyond to present their research. The goal of the workshop was to foster in-depth discussions, facilitate knowledge exchange, and highlight new research concerning Taiwan while bringing knowledge about Taiwan to the IU Bloomington community. 

Saturday, October 5, 2024

9:00 AM - 5:30 PM in GA 2067

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An online roundtable discussion with leading scholars about the outcome of Taiwan’s 2024 presidential and legislative elections and their broader impacts: How should we understand the results? How have the elections reflected and shaped the island’s political landscape? How will they affect East Asian regional security and cross-strait relations? Will it lead to new crises or new opportunities for Taiwan? 

Date: Jan. 25th
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 pm EST 
Venue: Zoom 

Co-Moderators: Sara Friedman (IU Bloomington) and Gardner Bovingdon (IU Bloomington) 

Panelists:

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Panelist One: Shelley Rigger (Davidson College)

Professor Rigger is the Brown Professor of Asian Studies, whose research and writing focuses on Taiwanese politics and on the relationships among the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and Taiwan.

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Panelist Two: Yen-Ti Su (Academia Sinica)

Yen-Ti Su is a Research Professor at the Institutum Iurisprudentiae and Academia Sinica Co-director

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Panelist Three: Wei-Ting Yen (Franklin and Marshall College)

Dr. Wei-Ting Yen is an Assistant Professor in the Government Department at Franklin and Marshall College and the Mellon High Impact Emerging Scholar from 2019 to 2021. Dr. Yen is also a Public Intellectual Program fellow at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and Associate Editor for Asian Politics & Policy. Dr. Yen is a political economist focusing on governance and welfare state development in Asia. Her current research looks at the political impacts of economic insecurity on welfare state development. She also has several projects examining the politics of the COVID-19 pandemic from a comparative perspective. Dr. Yen holds her Ph.D. in Political Science from The Ohio State University.

This event is sponsored by IU Taiwan Studies Initiative, East Asian Studies Center, the Hamilton Lugar School of Global & International Studies at Indiana University, and TECO Chicago.