An initiative to mentor the next generation of Taiwan specialists in the United States

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Organizer: The Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS) at UC Berkeley promotes teaching and research on East and Southeast Asia in all disciplines and professional programs. The Institute and its regional centers sponsor a wide variety of activities including academic seminars and colloquia series, public lectures, cultural events, and other programs with the mission to foster interaction and facilitate deeper understanding among the academic, business, and professional communities on issues concerning the Asia-Pacific region.

Sponsor: Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco

U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group

Questions?

Please send any questions about the program or the application procedures to:

Skye VanValkenburgh, Program Assistant.

skyemvv@berkeley.edu

About the Program

The Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS) at UC Berkeley has for over two decades facilitated the dissemination of research on Taiwan through conferences, workshops, lectures, and publications. Keeping in that vein, IEAS, with generous support from the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco, hosts the U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group: an in-depth training program for scholars and policymakers with an interest in U.S.-Taiwan relations who show promise as future experts on foreign affairs in relation to Taiwan.

The U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group is a three-year program, through which a cohort of ten specialists participate in a series of meetings in Washington D.C., California, and Taipei. At these meetings, participants will have opportunities to discuss issues of importance to U.S.-Taiwan relations with policymakers, government officials, business, and opinion leaders in Taiwan and the United States. Participants will be expected to develop a policy paper on an issue of importance to the U.S.-Taiwan bilateral relationship under the guidance of the program’s Senior Advisors (Thomas B. Gold, UC Berkeley; Shelley Rigger, Davidson College; and Jude Blanchette, CSIS), as well as submit short reflection papers after each of the three meetings. The Senior Advisors will facilitate and participate in program meetings, and advise participants on how to effectively engage with the media, participate in the policymaking process, and expand their professional networks. When opportunities arise, members of the working group will be invited and encouraged to present their research findings at conferences and other venues throughout the project period in both the United States and Taiwan.

Program Goals

The program aims to identify, nurture, and build a community of American public policy intellectuals across a wide range of sectors and facilitate spin-offs of policy-oriented research teams and projects. In all, it will contribute to the understanding of Taiwanese points of view in international venues and support Taiwan and the United States in promoting their key mutual ideas and values as leaders in the international community by facilitating deeper and more vigorous dialogue and research not only on topics of immediate concern to the bilateral relationship, but also on ways to strengthen U.S.-Taiwan coordination in global affairs.

Participants in the News