Fulbright Midyear and Research Conferences and other Events

Centerpiece at Double Ten Event

During your Fulbright year, you have numerous opportunities to engage and collaborate with colleagues from all over Taiwan, China, Macau, and Hong Kong. Colleagues include Senior Scholars (Professors, Researchers, Artists, Lecturers), Fellows (Ph.D. candidates or recent graduates doing research), English Teaching Assistants (ETAs), the Fulbright staff, Director, and Board members. Although I am in Education and Psychology, the other senior scholars include a composer, jazz pianist, potter, philosophy professor, computer scientist, Alzheimer's researcher, history professor, as well as two education professors. I truly believe that having conversations with people in different fields has helped me think about my own work in more complex and in depth ways because it forces me outside of the comfort zone of my own academic world and body of research. It is a special gift.

Fulbright hosts several events that are socially and culturally meaningful and enhance these interdisciplinary connections. Below are a list of some of these actvities.

1). Fulbright Thought Leader Lecture Series

Shung Ye Aboriginal Museum

Every Fulbright Fellow and Senior Scholar delivers a Fulbright Thought Leader Lecture which is a final speech about the highlights of your Fulbright project. These include a question and answer period, reception, and a taped interview about your experience. The lecture is taped for Fulbright records. Sponsors, colleagues, research assistants, Board Members, family, and friends are invited to attend. I have blogged about one of these Lectures by Professor Charles Hartman.

2). Fulbright Tours
Fulbright hosts several tours of relevant cultural sites in Taiwan. The sites vary each year and there are too many to list but some highlights include the 228 Memorial Museum, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, National Palace Museum, Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, Huashan Creative Park, Danshui Old Street, Tam Kang University, and countless restaurants featuring different types of cuisine (Hakka, Taiwanese, etc). Family members are invited on these tours and transportation, admission fees, and meals are provided.

3). Fulbright Celebrations
Fulbright organizes many dinners and celebrations during the year. These include:

• Welcome dinner at the Red House with live music and large buffet dinner. Guests include the Director of AIT, Board members, family, and Fulbright alumni. 

Director of AIT carves turkey

• Double Ten (10, 10, Ten Ten) Event. This was a beautiful evening of dinner and live music performances with President Ma (President of Taiwan) and dignitaries and leaders from around the world. There were hundreds of types of food (including many aboriginal dishes) and there were performances by many aboriginal communities. 
• We all celebrated Thanksgiving Dinner together with a special meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and all the fixings!

4). Fulbright Midyear Conference

Workshop conference

Fulbright hosts a four day conference in a location in Taiwan. This year we went to the Great Roots Resort and Spa which featured suspension bridges, giant trees, hiking, and many local sites. During the conference, Senior Scholars and Fellows gave individual presentations of their work. ETAs gave group presentations and Fulbright staff, the Director, and Board Members were in attendance. As part of the conference were also visited several interesting cultural sites such as Yingge Pottery Village, Yingge Ceramics Museum, Sanxia Indigo Dye Association, and Sanxia Old Street.

5). Fulbright Research Workshop Conference
This conference includes all of the Fulbright Fellows and Senior Scholars from Taiwan, China, Macau, and Hong Kong and it takes place in March. It is quite a special event with incredible speakers on different topics related to Taiwan, China, and cross-strait relations: Taiwanese Consciousness, Global Engagement: International Affairs, Economic Trends and Forecasts, Creativity, Popular Culture and Media, Political Process, and several keynote addresses. The conference is at a different location each day including Zhongshan Hall, Chengchi University, and National Taiwan University. Highlights include:

President Ma greets Fulbrighters

• Lunch and Keynote with President Ma
• Speech by the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Christopher Marut
• Speech by Andrew Ryan (Host Radio Taiwan International) on the history of Mando-pop
• Meeting with colleagues in working groups to discuss our successes and challenges

During one of our breaks, a group of us went to Xue Wang, an ice cream shop in Ximen featuring 73 different flavors of ice cream including pork sung, Taiwan beer, jasmine tea, chili pepper, and melon.  Also, different combinations of us went out for meals, coffee, walks, and a group of us visited a local Buddhist recycling center.

6). Fulbright Special Events

Simon Levin's pottery exhibition

We are also invited to numerous special events. These may include performances, exhibitions, talks, etc. For example, Ryan Roberts (Director of Cultural Affairs) invited us to an exhibition on Asian American Immigration in the US, talk by Asian American Historian Erika Lee, and other events.  This month, my colleague, Simon Levin, will have a pottery exhibition, "Amalgam", in Yingge Pottery Village at Fugui Gallery (March 28-April 28th) and Professor Hsui-Zu Ho will have a talk at the Institute of Ethnology at Academia Sinica on March 18th.

7). Fulbright Review Panels
Fulbright scholars are also invited to serve on review panels through out the year. These panels include the Fulbright Director, Board Members, current Scholars, and Fulbright Alumni. It is an honor to be able to serve on these important committees that help make recommendations on applications of various Fulbright programs. It is also interesting to understand the process that goes into determining future Fulbright scholars. 
All of these events have contributed to an incredibly rich, diverse, and eye-opening experience filled with intellectual growth, meaningful connections, lasting friendships, and memorable events. I look forward to more of these occasions during the year. Thank you Fulbright Staff and my Director, William Vocke, for all the work you have done organizing these wonderful opportunities!