北美洲台灣人教授協會年會特刊 2008

作者 NATPA

Welcome Messages from the President

Dear NATPA colleagues and friends:

It is my honor to welcome you to the 2008 NATPA Annual Conference. This year’s conference is very special, on a Carnival Cruise Line from New York City to Saint John and Halifax, Canada, July 26-31, 2008. The annual conference theme is our values, our vision, our mission, and our plan (年會主題-如何聯合海內外知識份子，推動第二次台灣文化啓蒙運動).I would like to provide you a brief summary on our conference program.

As we know, Taiwan is facing severe challenges after the March 2008 election. We keep asking ourselves: why DPP got defeated so badly. We concluded that one of the most serious problems is related to Taiwan education systems. For that reason, we have invited former Education Minister Tu Cheng-Sheng (杜正勝）as our Keynote speaker to talk about “Dilemma and Prospect of Taiwan Centered Education”（台灣主體教育之困境與展望).

We have been thinking: what NATPA should do, can do, and will do for Taiwan in the long­term perspective. The conference program committee has designed the program so we can review Our Values (責任與義務), develop Our Vision (前瞻與展望), examine Our Mission (建國運動中的角色), and project Our Plan (工作目標). To review our values, we have invited NATPA fimding president, Professor ST Liao 廖述宗, and current TAUP (台灣教授協會）president, Professor TK Tsay 蔡丁貴, to go over what have the two professors associations done in the past and what are the core values we have been holding. NATPA former president DM Wu 吳得民 will serve as the moderator. To develop our vision, we have invited NATPA former president LC Chen 陳隆志（a well known international laws professor) to discuss Taiwan international status, and TAUP Professor CY Homg 洪慶宜（an environmental protection activist) to discuss Taiwan social movement. NATPA former president Ed Huang 黃東昇 will serve as the moderator.

What should be our mission as a professors’ association in North America? Is our mission consistent with our vision for the challenges in Taiwan? What roles can or should NATPA play in the movements of Taiwan independence and nation building? What can we accomplish with our limited resources? What should be our priority? To realistically examine our mission, the program committee has invited Drs. ST Liao, CP Yeh 葉治平（NATPA former president)，Chris Yen 顏永財 (a financial expert), and myself to provide opinions. NATPA former president TK Lin 林宗光 will serve as the moderator. How TAUP and NATPA can work collaboratively to achieve our common goals? What action items can be implemented in the near terms? To sketch our plan, the program committee has invited Professors TK Tsay, CY Homg, Ben Liu 劉斌碩（NATPA newly elected board director), and myself to serve as panelists. NATPA VP Jeff Tsay 蔡靜輝 will serve as the moderator.

In addition to Members’ General Meeting, the conference also includes the following sessions: Taiwan Experiences, NATPA Young Scholars Program, and Review of the past two Taiwan elections. NATPA former president SK Wu 吳錫圭 will talk about his experience working at the Endemic Species Research Institute in Ji-Ji (集集), Dr. ST Lee 李學圖 will talk about his work on selecting 100 books that would nurture and enhance Taiwan identity, and Dr. YC Tsao 卓耀宗 will

share his experience of translating and publishing books in Taiwan. Dr. MH Land 藍敏慧 will serve as the moderator. This year NATPA has awarded five Young Scholars Ph.D. students (including YC Liu劉怡君, HF Hung洪萱芳, WW Lan藍唯文, WC Liao廖文正, Huang黃振煌）from four universities in the US to attend our conference. Dr. CP Yeh has organized their presentations, and Dr. CC Li 李中志 will serve as the moderator for this session.

To review the past Taiwan elections (選戰的回顧與檢討）three evening sessions are scheduled for our colleagues who have participated in the campaign activities in Taiwan to share their experiences, thoughts, and lessons learned. They are:李雪玫, 黃界清, 蔡丁貴, 洪其壁（TAUP),  莊和子(DPP), 李席舟(DPP), 李中傑, 李欣芬(TAUP), 陳隆志, 蔡靜輝, 黃東昇. Drs. Ed Huang, CY Yang 楊朝諭, and JT Lin 林健次 will respectively serve as the moderator in each session.

If we take no action, all above discussions would be futile. The evening session of July 30 would be the climax of the conference in which NATPA will discuss active collaborations with TAUP in Taiwan. Based on good experiences during the past two elections, NATPA has already established a new seven-member Liaison Committee to promote the long-term collaborations with TAUP, including co-sponsoring the Aurora electronic publication and coordinating the summer and winter lectureships in Taiwan. The Liaison Committee Chair Taitzer Wang 王泰澤 has prepared two reports on how to promote Aurora electronic publication(極光電子報, will be presented by Dr. TK Tsay). Dr. ST Lee will present his proposal on Taiwan Reading Tour (經由對話，閱讀台灣了解台灣), and Dr. CP Yeh will present his idea on “Taiwan Culture Nurturing Movement – Second Time Around”(第二次台灣文化啓蒙運動). This will conclude the 2008 Annual Conference.

Thank you all for your participation and continued support.

2007-2008 NATPA President

黃界清 Je-Chin Han July-04-2008

Print in 2008/07

Posted in 2015/12