Prospectus

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Taiwan Studies seminar

Course
2025-2026

Admission requirements

Not applicable

Description

"Chinese Medicine? Taiwanese Medicine? Han Medicine?” Exploring the Development and Cultural Identity of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Taiwan.

This course aims to:

  • Explore the historical and cultural development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Taiwan.

  • Examine the distinction and overlap between Chinese medicine, Taiwanese medicine, and Han medicine.

  • Analyze the role of traditional medicine in shaping Taiwan’s cultural identity amidst political and social transitions.

  • Equip students with a deeper understanding of how cultural and national identity influences medical practices and their perception in society.

Course objectives

With this course, students will be able to:

  • Understand the historical origins and evolution of TCM in Taiwan.

  • Analyze the impact of colonization, political change, and globalization on Taiwanese traditional medicine.

  • Critically discuss Taiwan's efforts to promote TCM as a unique cultural on the global stage.

  • Compare and contrast traditional medicine practices across East Asia.

Timetable

The timetables are available through MyTimetable.

Mode of instruction

  • Lecture

  • Seminar

Assessment method

Assessment

  • Participation and Discussion (20%)

  • Midterm Paper (30%)

  • Group Project (20%)

  • Final essay (30%)

Weighing

The final grade is established by determining the weighted average of all elements.

Resit

There will be no resit for the course work, but individual submissions can compensate each other.

For the term paper, only a previous submission for the first attempt qualifies students for the resit, and only if that submission scored a failing grade. First attempts that received a passing mark (5.5 or higher) cannot be improved through further revision.

Inspection and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.

Reading list

Books and Articles

  • Farquhar, Judith. Knowing Practice: The Clinical Encounter of Chinese Medicine.

  • Hsu, Elisabeth. The Transmission of Chinese Medicine.

  • Chang, Bi-yu. “From Taiwanisation to De-sinification. Culture Construction in Taiwan since the 1990s”.

  • LEE, Jen-der. “The Past as a Foreign Country: Recent Research on Chinese Medical History in Taiwan.”

  • Chen, Shio-fen. “Review: Elisabeth Hsu (ed.) Innovation in Chinese Medicine Needham Research Institute Series No. 3 Cambridge University Press 2001”.

  • Lin, Shun-Ku & Jung-Nien Lai. “Enhancing Traditional Chinese Medicine healthcare system in Taiwan post-COVID-19 pandemic: A strategic focus on specialization”.

  • Chen, Po-Hsun, Lin Juang-Geng. “Translated title of the contribution: Taiwan’s Chinese Medicine Giant: Chen Li-Fu”.

Additional Resources

  • Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare reports on TCM development.

  • World Health Organization (WHO) traditional medicine reports.

Registration

Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website

Contact

  • For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.

  • For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Herta Mohr

Remarks

Every academic year, this course is taught by a different visiting professor. The content and focus of the course will therefore differ per academic year.

BA Chinastudies students cannot write their thesis as part of this course.