About Us:
The Humanities Research Center, founded in 2008 according to the resolutions of the 147th University Affairs Meeting, is committed to promoting humanities and social sciences in Taiwan, increasing academic influence on national developments, and elaborating liberal spirit and value as well. Research highlights of the Humanities Research Center in 2015 are as followed.

I. Academic Research

1. Holding Academic Conference on “Chen Cheng and Modern China”
Along with the 50th Anniversary of Chen Cheng’s death, on March 5, we jointly held an academic conference on “Chen Cheng and Modern China” with the Chungcheng Cultural and Educational Foundation, the Asia-Pacific Science and Technology Association, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the Centre for Asian Studies at Chu Hai College of Higher Education in Hong Kong, and the Shanghai Songhu Campaign Memorial Hall. This conference discussed Chen Cheng’s importance and influence on the cross-straits interaction from military, political, economic and societal perspectives.

2. Digitizing Archives of the Chinese Association for Relief and Ensuing Services (CARES)
The CARES’s archives cover periods from the Cold War till the present and show the cross-straits relations and developments. These archives are valuable for research on both history of modern China and history of Taiwan. We digitized the CARES’s archives and also set up a digital database. Along with celebrations of the 88th Anniversary of NCCU and the 65th Anniversary of CARES, we held a symposium to introduce this database and these valuable archives to the public for more understating of the CARES and its contributions.

II. Publications

1. Publishing Important Historical Documents for the Research on Chiang Kai-Shek
Along with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance against Japan, we planned to republish an important collection of historical documents: Chiang Kai-Shek’s Chronological Event Transcripts. In November, we firstly published a two-volume book named Mr. Chiang Kai-Shek in 1945 which reveals many key moments in the history of 1945. Authorized by the Academia Historica, Mr. Chiang Kai-Shek in 1945 compiled documents from the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica and the Culture Communication Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang Party History Museum, and was financially aided by a famous figure, Mr. Moses W. Li. The publishing of this book is not merely a meaningful event to the academic community but beneficial to the public to have more understanding of the history of the War of Resistance against Japan.

2. Regularly Publishing Scholarly Books
There are nine working groups to execute our research project—“The Formation of Modern China.” Research results of each group will be reviewed anonymously and later published by the Chengchi University Press. From 2012 till now, we have published 19 scholarly books about history, diplomacy, religion, literature, ethnic minorities or historiophoty. Publishing is a direct way to present our research findings and make them open and accessible to the academic community and the public.

III. Teaching Excellence

1. Promoting General Education
In the spring semester of 2015, our Director, Prof. Whei-Ming Chou taught a general education course: “The Formation of Modern China.” In this course, we introduced our latest research findings and flipped the classroom. Students were expected to participate more in class, and would be trained to think wider and deeper.

IV. International Connections

1. Organizing an International Research Group on the Research of Cold War
Cold War is not merely a historical phrase and limited in the field of history. It is also about politics, society, economy, and has been strongly emphasized in Asia. Accordingly, we held two workshops and organized an international research group on the research of Cold War in 2015. We invited scholars widely from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Tokyo, Kobe University, Yonsei University, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University and National Chengchi University to participate in these workshops. All participants reached a common consensus of organizing an international research group, planning related sub-themes, and holding an academic conference next year. We are looking forward to building Taiwan as a central research base of the research of Cold War and arousing international attention on this research field.

2. Holding a History and Culture Camp
We jointly held a history and culture camp with the China Europe International Business School on June 16-17. During this camp, Mr. Shen-Fong Lee, a consultant of New Party, Ms. Ming-Chu Fung, the Director of National Palace Museum, Mr. Pei-Tsun Hau, a former President of the Executive Yuan, and Mr. Pei-Jung Fu, a professor of the Department of Philosophy at National Taiwan University were invited to deliver lectures covering issues about history, politics, culture, philosophy, or Chinese studies. Through these lectures, business elites from China had opportunities to further understand traditional knowledge and cultural innovation in Taiwan. For us, holding this camp is a means to obtain the central and legal position in the discourse of the history of Republic of China, and to promote interaction and cooperation among cross-straits institutes of higher education as well.

V. Social Contributions

1. Improving History Education of Senior High Schools by Executing the “Plan of Searching for Coordinates in History”
In 2015, we were entrusted with executing a two-year plan called “Searching for Coordinates in History” by the K-12 Education Administration, Ministry of Education. Therefore, we held camps for history teachers in senior high schools to create and improve their own teaching materials, and workshops for senior high students to read primary sources and strengthen their critical thinking. In addition, we established a database for teaching and learning social studies.