University of Texas at Dallas

Taiwan Studies Program at 

Karl Ho

School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (EPPS)

University of Texas at Dallas (UTD)

Presentation prepared for the meeting at the United Microelectronics Corp., Hsinchu, Taiwan ROC, July 17, 2024

Summary

  1. Latest developments
    1. Taiwan Research Academy (6/3/2024 - 6/9/2024)
  2. Background of Taiwan Studies Program at the University of Texas at Dallas
  3. Taiwan Studies Program
    1. Taiwan Research Academy
    2. Huayu Scholarship to study Mandarin in Taiwan
    3. Taiwan courses
    4. Dual Degree Program in Data Science
    5. Data Analytics Colloquium

Taiwan Research Academy

  •  June 3-9, 2024, the Taiwan Research Academy awarded eleven (11) Taiwan Research Fellowships recipients to UTD campus for a week-long training camp.

  • World-renowned Taiwan scholars will teach workshops training next generation of experts in Taiwan studies.

  • TRA faculty size:  ten (10)

  • Concluding event was a conference convening keynote speaker Dr.  Richard Bush and local Taiwan community members, opening dialogue on prospect of Taiwan research.   

  • First cohort

Establishment of TSP at UTD

University leadership support:

  • UT Dallas Provost Dr. Inga Musselman

  • UT Dallas School of EPPS Dean Dr. Jennifer Holmes

  • Established the TRI under the School of EPPS in early 2023

  • This initiative stands as a testament to our shared commitment to advancing understanding and scholarship regarding Taiwan.

Ministry of Education

Taiwan Ministry of Education support since 2017:

  • Jindal School of Management

    • Scholarship

    • Faculty Training

  • School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (since 2024)

    • Taiwan courses

    • Taiwan Research Academy

    • Huayu Scholarship

    • Conferences on Taiwan

Taiwan Huayu
Language Liaison Center

  • University leadership support:

    • UT Dallas Bass School of Arts, Humanities and Technology Dean Dr. Nils Roemer

    • UT Dallas School of EPPS Dean Dr. Jennifer Holmes

  • the Taiwan Huayu Language Liaison Center is slated to launch in early 2024.

  • Connecting the Taiwan business community, including residents and students, and promotes Huayu/Mandarin education, facilitating cross-cultural engagement and understanding.

Texas has been one of the top export states and Taiwan is the top 10th overseas market for the Lone Star state.  While most of the trade commodities focus on computer hardware, both Taiwan and Texas are historically tied in technological partnership and developments.  Taiwan is reaching the world’s top leadership in semiconductor and computer chip industries.  To maintain such a status, the high-tech country has to reposition to broaden its investments and galvanize synergy with its top partners in most needed areas.  

 

Overview

These include human capital and science capital developments, in particular with Texas.   One such example is to introduce English as official medium of education and hopefully as the country’s office language within a decade.   In this proposal, I will share the experience in the University of Texas at Dallas and give roadmaps of synergetic developments between Taiwan and more specifically North Texas.  The programs include the most recent Data Science exchange program we build with partner university in Taiwan and how we envision training new cohorts of talents through active academic and research exchange programs on both sides.  

Overview

Source: Texas House Resolution 186 proposed by Rep. Sherman

By: Sherman, Sr. H.R. No. 186

  R E S O L U T I O N

         WHEREAS, The longstanding bonds of friendship between the United States and Taiwan, embodied in the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, continue to yield important economic, strategic, and cultural benefits; and

         WHEREAS, Taiwan ranks as the United States' 10th largest

  trading partner, and in 2019, bilateral trade in goods reached

  $85.5 billion; the seventh-largest export market for

  U.S. agricultural products, Taiwan's biennial agricultural trade

  goodwill missions result in multibillion-dollar supply deals, and its annually dispatched delegations to the SelectUSA Investment Summit boost investment; Taiwan's recent action to lift restrictions on U.S. beef and pork beginning in January 2021 will help enhance bilateral trade; and

         WHEREAS, The robust US-Taiwan trade and investment

  partnership provides a solid foundation for a mutually beneficial

  bilateral trade agreement (BTA) to spur job creation, further

  expand the global market, and secure international supply chains;

  Taiwan is well positioned to play an important role in augmenting

  the revitalization of the global supply chain as part of the

  post-pandemic economic recovery; and

Taiwan, as well as Texas, has to reposition and refocus on not just maintaining but upgrading its leverage in the new era and under the new world order.

Overview

Dallas is No. 1 in Texas for international students *

 

* Doctorate granting universities

Rank Institutions Int'l Students
1 New York University 17,050
2 Northeastern University - Boston 15,880
3 Columbia University 15,015
4 University of Southern California 14,992
5 Arizona State University - Tempe 13,015
6 University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign 12,838
7 University of California - San Diego 10,824
8 Boston University 10,646
9 Purdue University - West Lafayette 10,500
10 University of California - Los Angeles 10,273
11 University of California - Berkeley 9,184
12 University of Washington 8,777
13 University of Texas - Dallas 8,475
14 Pennsylvania State University - University Park 8,267
15 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor 8,252

Dallas is No. 1 in Texas for international students *

 

CollegeFactual has also ranked the value of the education at UT Dallas on a country by country basis. UT Dallas' best value is for students from   India,   Taiwan, and   China, with Taiwan among the largest on-campus communities (3).

Dallas is No. 1 in Texas for international students *

 

CollegeFactual has also ranked the value of the education at UT Dallas on a country by country basis. UT Dallas' best value is for students from   India,   Taiwan, and   China, with Taiwan among the largest on-campus communities (3).

  • Why UTD?

    Our vision and the President's Strategic Plan is to build the University to be one of the nation’s best public research universities and one of the top universities of the world. Currently, we are tier-one (R1) university in DFW and ranked top three in many areas including the School of EPPS.

Taiwan Studies Program at UTD

How Texas can help?

Texas government

Texas government

Texas government

Texas government

  • Since 1988, Texas and Taiwan have maintained a sister-state relationship, and they enjoy particularly close economic ties; Taiwanese firms have invested billions of dollars in a wide range of Texas businesses

    • in 2019, bilateral trade in goods reached $85.5 billion;

    • Taiwan is Texas' 10th largest foreign market

    • in 2019, Taiwan imported nearly $8.47 billion in

        commodities from Texas, including:

      • computers and electronics,

      • industrial machinery equipment,

      • chemicals

      • and foodstuffs

    • Texas imported over $3.66 billion in Taiwanese goods,

       primarily computers, electronics, metal products, transportation

       equipment, and industrial machinery

Texas and Taiwan

  • Taiwan is the seventh-largest export market for U.S. agricultural products

  • Texas imported over $3.66 billion in Taiwanese goods,

    •  primarily computers, electronics, metal products, transportation

       equipment, and industrial machinery

Texas and Taiwan

  • Inaugurated in 2016, titled by late Dr. Harold D. Clarke

    • Supported by Taiwan Studies programs (Texas,
      Illinois State)
    • Sponsored by MOE, MOFA and Taiwan community leaders
      in US
    • Four events (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020)
    • Topics: Elections, Cross-strait relations, Taiwan-US-China
      relations
    • Guest speakers from over 20 universities, crossing
      Taiwan, Europe, New Zealand and US
       

Taiwan Democracy Symposium

  • Inaugurated in 2016, titled by late Dr. Harold Clarke

    • Supported by Taiwan Studies programs (Texas,
      Illinois State)
    • Sponsored by MOE, MOFA and Taiwan community leaders
      in US
    • Synergized 
    • Four events (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020)
    • Topics: Elections, Cross-strait relations, Taiwan-US-China
      relations
    • Guest speakers from over 20 universities, Taiwan,
      Europe and US
       

Taiwan Democracy Symposium

Although the United States and Europe are trying to boost their own domestic design and production of semiconductors, they do not have the abilities to mass produce the most advanced designs that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, can make.

- New York Times 1/26/2022

 

Case study: Taiwan industry

Source: 2021 State of the U.S. Semiconductor Industry

  • The foundry model is a microelectronics engineering and manufacturing business model consisting of a semiconductor fabrication plant, or foundry, and an integrated circuit design operation, each belonging to separate companies or subsidiaries.

The Foundry Model

  • Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEM is a company that manufactures products or parts to a  the buyer company selling the products under its own brand.

  • In other words, OEM company does not have own brand.

  • Recently, Taiwan is getting renowned of its brands such as UMC and TSMC and becomes world leader. What is next?

Beyond OEM

Beyond OEM

Beyond OEM

  • Taiwan is in a new era of growth.

  • Position is different compared to 2000s.

    • US-China-Taiwan trilateral relations
    • Hong Kong
    • In a quick moment, Taiwan becomes the most important hub of semiconductors, which is at heart of most new technologies

  • Must reposition and cope with head wind

Data Analytics Colloquium

  • Collaborated with National Chung Hsing University, Taichung.

  • NCHU College of Law and Politics and UTD School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

  • Convenes international scholars and data scientists in online seminars and workshops

  • Engage in conversation with speakers and replication of data methods and big data models.

  • Online webinars for two consecutive years

  • Hosted 16 webinars from top scholars in US and Europe

Data Analytics Colloquium

  • Dual Degree program with National Chung Hsing University, Taichung.

  • Social Data Analytics and Research Master's program at EPPS

  • Data Science Master's program in NCHU

  • Taiwan students pay Taiwan tuition to take courses at UTD

Exchange program in Data Science

Establishment of Taiwan Studies Initiative at  UTD

University leadership support:

  • UT Dallas Provost Dr. Inga Musselman

  • UT Dallas School of EPPS Dean Dr. Jennifer Holmes

  • Established the TRI under the School of EPPS in early 2023

  • This initiative stands as a testament to our shared commitment to advancing understanding and scholarship regarding Taiwan.

Taiwan Courses

  • University leadership support:

    • UT Dallas Bass School of Arts, Humanities and Technology Dean Dr. Nils Roemer

    • UT Dallas School of EPPS Dean Dr. Jennifer Holmes

  • Courses (Spring 2024):

    • State and Society in Taiwan (Professor Joanne Wu)

    • Business Mandarin/Chinese)

  • Connecting the Taiwan business community, including residents and students, and promotes Huayu/Mandarin education, facilitating cross-cultural engagement and understanding.

STEM and Data Science

  • Data Analytics Colloquium

    • Since 2020

    • Top data scientist/methodologist speakers from US and Europe

  • Dual Degree Program in Data Science

    • Taiwan and US exchange students pay one year of local tuition and receive two degrees

Taiwan Research Academy

  • Scheduled for June 2-7, 2024, the Taiwan Research Academy will award and invite ten Taiwan Research Fellowships recipients to UTD campus for a week-long training camp.

  • World-renowned Taiwan scholars will teach workshops training next generation of experts in Taiwan studies.

  • Four scholars have committed to joining the academy faculty to teach this summer.

  • TRA faculty size: eight to ten (8-10)

  • Concluding event will be a conference convening faculty and local Taiwan community members, opening dialogue on prospect of Taiwan research (June 7th, 2024).   

Taiwan and Huayu Courses

  • Visiting Assistant Professor from Taiwan, jointly supported by the School of EPPS and the UTD Bass School of Arts, Humanities and Technology (BAHT).

  • Miss Joanne Wu is aboard and is teaching two courses in Spring 2024

  • Responsibilities include liaison with local community to offer Mandarin courses

Taiwan and Huayu Courses

  • Visiting Assistant Professor from Taiwan, jointly supported by the School of EPPS and the UTD Bass School of Arts, Humanities and Technology (BAHT).

  • Miss Joanne Wu is aboard and is teaching two courses in Spring 2024

  • Responsibilities include liaison with local community to offer Mandarin courses

Taiwan and Huayu Courses

Huayu Scholarship summer program

  • About 10 - 12 students from different schools in UTD will be awarded Huayu travel scholarships to learn Mandarin and conduct research in Taiwan during summer 2024.

  • NCHU Language center will host these students

  • Three-year program

Administrative Support:

  • TSP has hired an administrator to fulfill essential administrative duties and support the Visiting Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator in executing various projects, including the operation of the liaison center and the Taiwan Research Academy.

Upcoming Initiatives:
Taiwan Policy Colloquium

  • Collaborating with esteemed scholars, TRI is organizing a policy wing tentatively titled Taiwan Policy Colloquium.

  • This colloquium will provide specialized training for students aspiring to become policy analysts, particularly those aiming to work in Washington D.C. and Austin.

Upcoming Initiatives:

America in Asia Survey

  • TRI is currently conducting a national survey titled America in Asia study (AIA), gauging American voters' perspectives on the U.S. role in Asia, with a special focus on states including Taiwan, China, Japan, the Koreas, Singapore, Hong Kong, and ASEAN.

  • We anticipate the results to be available by early Spring 2024.

Upcoming Initiatives:
Taiwan Corpus Database

  • Compilation of a comprehensive database from U.S. Congressional documents relating to Taiwan.  

  • This project employs novel big data technologies to collect large volume of government data and documents. This database will be made publicly available, aiding scholars and students in the study of U.S. policies regarding Taiwan.

Taiwan Democracy Symposium

  • Since 2016, TDS has hosted five conferences/special speaker series in UTD

  • Co-edited book
  • Book chapters
  • Peer-reviewed articles

Conclusion

  • 2024 is the year of growth, with continued support from UTD leadership and administration.

  • We look forward to more partnerships as we endeavor to advance our shared mission and make a lasting impact on the study and understanding of Taiwan's role in the global landscape.