Brief Introduction to the Department:
The History Department of Tunghai University was set up since the establishment of the University (in 1955). It has been in existence for more than 60 years, and is one of the history departments in Taiwan with a long history. The Graduate (Institute) of History was set up in 1970. When the Department was set up, it was headed by Professor Chong-Hong Liu who originally taught in the History Department of National Taiwan University, and there were the other professors such as Yan-Feng Chu, Wen-Zheng Lan, Le-Tong Chi, Shao-Chen Yang and Malone ( Surname). In the following 20 years, because the University was a member of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia(UBCHEA), there were a number of foreign teachers recruited. The Department adopted a small-class system from the first to the 17th year, and there were only a dozen graduates each year. The goal of the Graduate Institute is to cultivate talents in historical research, and most alumni teach in colleges and universities. Since 1972 the United Board gradually decreased its support to the University. The Department began to increase the enrollment quota, and there was a turnover of the teachers as those who joined the University since its establishment gradually retired and new teachers joined. However, the Department has always been committed to teaching.
Currently the Department recruits 58 freshmen and the Graduate Institute recruits 8 each year.
Current Status:
- Teachers
- Courses
- Books and Equipment:
- Student Awards:
The Department has nine full-time teachers with their own expertise and a broad field of research in Taiwan history, Chinese history and world history. In recent years, many of them are also involved in history education courses to comply with the development strategy of the Department.
University-required courses: Chinese, English, general education subjects, military training, nursing class; totally 26 credits.
Department-required courses: Chinese history, world history, Taiwan history, introduction to history, and methodology of historiography; totally 30 credits. Other required courses offered by the Department: 40 credits. Totally 70 credits.
Other: The Department offers an wide range of courses each year for students to select according to personal interests.
General Library | Contains a total of twenty-five thousand periodicals and professional Chinese history and history books. |
World History and Taiwan History Library | Has a collection of more than ten thousand books, periodicals and audiovisual resources about world history and Taiwan studies. |
Computer and audiovisual equipment | Has 17 sets of computers and computing peripheral equipment, a set of editing system , 7 sets of TVs, VCRs, professional cameras, single-lens projectors and digital cameras, and dozens of field survey equipment. |
The Department has set up the following awards to encourage students to study seriously:
(1) Excellence scholarship:
(A) Available to students with an academic achievement of eighty-five points or more; each is awarded a scholarship of NT$2,000 and a certificate of excellence.
(B) Available to students with an academic achievement of eighty points or more; each is awarded a certificate of excellence.
(2) The Memorial Scholarship of the History Department of Tunghai University is awarded to about 3 students each academic year; each is awarded NT$10,000 and a certificate of excellence.
(3) The History Department’s Professor Shao-Zhen Yang Memorial Scholarship is awarded to 5 students each academic year; each is awarded NT$40,000 and a certificate of excellence.
(4) Academic activities such as academic symposiums, lectures and seminars are held on a regular or irregular basis each year for the “Academic Fund of the History Department of Tunghai University in Memory of Professor Chong-Hong Liu”.
(5) In recent years, the Department established minor and double-major degrees for students of other departments, in order to provide a broader development opportunity to those who are interested in history research. Both the undergraduate and master programs are open for application, hoping to recruit students who are genuinely interested in history research.
Development Focus and Features of the Department:
- Liberal Arts Learning Objectives and Education Goal
- Rich Learning Resources
Since its establishment in 1955, Tunghai University has always stressed the importance of all-round and whole-person education of liberal arts and interdisciplinary learning. General education and labor education have been implemented for more than half a century with deep affirmation at home and abroad, and the University still continues improving its effort in these aspects in recent years. The curriculum design of the Department is in line with Tunghai University’s core philosophy of education. In the curriculum structure, generally one third is required courses, one third is elective courses, and the other one third is interdisciplinary curriculum of general education. In the internal aspect, the curriculum is divided into four major areas: Taiwan history, Chinese history, world history, and methodology and applied curriculum. The education goal of the master program is to cultivate history research talents, and therefore the curriculum focuses on training and research methods and thesis writing, so as to enhance the level of research and theses.
In addition to a large number of books and the rich network database added in recent years in the general library of the University, the Department also has its own large-scale library with a collection of more than thirty thousand books to provide reference for students’ daily study.
To promote the interaction between history knowledge and social science, the Department has gradually opened some history theme courses. In order to meet the demand of the future workplace, the Department also requires students to pay attention to the application of languages and computer science, and courses such as (historical site field study, verbal history record production, historical documentary production and museum science ) are set up due to the need for the promotion of history and culture. The Department’s exchange student program with the history departments of renowned universities in mainland China has been gradually promoted. All these are an important part in training the students to become modern people with a global vision