Storytelling has long been at the heart of humanity. Everyone has a story to tell. No matter how ordinary it may seem, and no matter how inexperienced the person who solicits it, those who care to listen can learn a lot. Stories about childhood memories of people who grew up elsewhere allow us to see the world through their eyes, reflect on our own views, and build bridges across generations, cultures, oceans, and geographies.
The Center for Taiwan Studies (CTS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara teaches storytelling, collects childhood memories, and makes them accessible for readers and listeners around the world. Currently directed by Dr. Sabine Frühstück, the Center houses a project called, Made in Taiwan (MiT), designed to encourage students to engage in conversations about childhoods with individuals who grew up in Taiwan. Curated by CTS Research Fellow, Dr. Silke Werth, MiT is at once a public oral history project, a global open access digital research hub, and an archive of childhood memories in Taiwan. MiT guides budding student ethnographers in collecting memories of individuals from different biographical, ethnic, social, professional, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds who have one thing in common—having grown up in Taiwan. We believe that remembering and sharing childhood stories fosters curiosity in others’ lives, forges connections across generations and nations, and ultimately weaves a fabric of empathetic and peaceful coexistence.
On April 6–7, 2023, CTS will host the workshop “Global Storytelling: Narrating Childhoods in Taiwan” to celebrate the project’s growth and achievements. Scholars and students, Taiwanese experts and a filmmaker, ethnographers of childhood and youth, and members of the Taiwanese community will engage in critical, collective reflections about qualitative research methods and childhood stories from Taiwan.
If you, dear reader, are interested in attending the workshop, please contact us at eastasian-taiwanstudies@ucsb.edu or check out the CTS website for announcements. If you would like to share your memories of growing up in Taiwan, please be in touch and we will pair you with a student ready to listen and record! We are excited about adding more life stories to our archive of childhood memories and would love to add yours!
Silke Werth, Ph.D. Research Fellow, Center for Taiwan Studies UC Santa Barbara
UCSB Silke Werth 教授 介紹該大學的“台灣研究中心”(Center for Taiwan Studies “CTS” )
2023年「台美人獎學金基金會」(Taiwanese American Scholarship Fund, TASF)獎助學金即日起開放申請,提供台美移民子弟獎學金資助,將獎助10名學生,每人7,500元,總額7萬5美元,4月3日截止。凡是將於2023年秋天進入大學院校就讀,且需經濟援助之美國地區高中應屆畢業生,或大學院校在學一年級學生,GPA成績3.0以上,家庭收入相當或低於聯邦、州、郡低收入水平者,均可申請。
台美人獎學金基金會(TASF)是美國政府立案的非營利組織,建立於2014年,其使命在於幫助在美國的台美青年有接受高等教育機會,為更美好的未來奠定基礎。TASF是全美唯一一個針對全美國台美人頒發的獎學金。TASF是由多位台美成功企業家和台美社區領袖共同支持而成立的,當中包括多位台灣政府僑委會所聘任的僑務委員、顧問和促進委員,都在我們基金會慈善捐款者名單中。除此之外,台美人獎學金基金會的董事們也與美國主流政商人士關係密切,如加州財務長江俊輝John Chiang and 國會議員劉雲平Ted Lieu, OpenTable’s New CEO Debby Soo, Rotten Tomatoes co-founder and former CEO Patrick Lee, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen就曾親臨我們獎學金頒獎典禮與得獎學子對談,鼓勵他們有遠大的志向。https://tascholarshipfund.org/awards/
世台聯合基金會 (STUF United Fund Inc.) 成立於2009年,為美國登記之非營利組織,著重於災難救助、人道援助、教育文化、公共衛生與環境等領域,在世界五大洲、33個國家推動過國際慈善計畫。聯合國經濟及社會理事會 (UN ECOSOC) 於2016年賦予其特殊諮詢地位 (Special Consultative Status)。