Partners in the quest for knowledge
In August 2019, NCCU’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies hosted the “ASEAN Cultural and Economic Development Cross-Country Internship Program,” allowing NCCU students to gain first-hand experience in Thailand. In addition to visiting the Thai NGO Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN), where they delved into issues of labor exploitation and human trafficking, students also got a taste of riverside life at Bangkok’s Amphawa Floating Market.
Holding in-depth discussions on labor exploitation with a Thai NGO “was a rare opportunity,” says Ong, adding that it would be difficult for most independent scholars to be granted such access. Warasiriphong Chittaworn, a doctoral student at NCCU’s Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies, acted as intermediary, taking advantage of the NGO’s good relations with Dr. Rungnapa Thepparp, associate dean of the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Thailand’s Thammasat University, who made the arrangements.
Currently, NCCU holds weekly international workshops and lectures related to Southeast Asia, establishing cooperative links and agreements with countries targeted by Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. The university welcomes many visiting scholars, and friendships have never been closer.
As a preeminent Southeast Asian studies think tank, CSEAS uses its influence to link together worldwide research in Southeast-Asia-related fields, allowing younger generations of scholars to find their voices.
Professor Ani Soetjipto (third from right) of the University of Indonesia, pictured at NCCU’s Institute of International Relations, where she lectured on human rights networks and transnational initiatives in Indonesia’s Papua Province.