I recently attended the “Global Taiwan” Conference at the University of Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Asia Centre. The two-day event was co-organised by the Australasian Taiwan Studies Association, University of Melbourne’s Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, and National Taiwan Normal University’s International Taiwan Studies Centre.
As the official website declares, “Global Taiwan” is an “international and interdisciplinary conference that brings together scholars from across the humanities and social sciences to explore Taiwan’s place in the world”.
“The conference seeks to situate Taiwan within global historical processes, intellectual currents, and cultural exchanges, while also highlighting the island’s distinctive experiences and contributions.”
“By fostering dialogue among researchers working in fields as diverse as history, literature, politics, anthropology, media studies, and beyond, Global Taiwan offers a unique forum for rethinking Taiwan’s global significance and for advancing the study of Taiwan in a comparative, transnational frame.”
At the conference, I attended one keynote, seven sessions, and 20 presentations by researchers from across the world. I also had my own presentation, “Translation as ‘Juicy Bits’ in Taiwan Travelogue“, which is a slightly different version of my review of that book recently published via Mascara Literary Review.
The last time I attended an academic conference (i.e. different from those about the Australian book industry or in the field of Australian speculative fiction) was in the early 2000s. So, perhaps understandably, I felt absolutely exhausted after two whole days of paying undivided attention to the speakers and their research projects, as well as note-taking, brainstorming and taking every opportunity to ask questions. But it was such a rich and rewarding experience, having learned so much about the topics and trends in contemporary Taiwan Studies.
I felt particularly comforted by the keynote, which was a Bruce Jacobs Memorial Lecture. Professor J. Bruce Jacobs was my PhD supervisor at the ending stage of my thesis writing, but I did spent a whole year working for his “Democratisation in Taiwan” research project at Monash University. He was a great guy, and listening to his wife talking about his last days moved me to tears at the conference dinner. It was embarrassing but I am very glad to have caught up with her.
It was also great to meet so many researchers from Taiwan and Australia and to glimpse what they are working on. It is sometimes mind-blowing, knowing how far my homeland has fearlessly advanced ahead in the past three decades. I remember sitting there listening to people chatting, and thinking how endearingly familiar that Taiwanese Mandarin sounds in my ears. I certainly hope there will be more opportunities in the future for me to contribute to academic and/or cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Australia.
