A Session at George Mason University to Deepen Project GO Cadets’ Understanding of Taiwan
Date:
Education Division Director Sophie Chou and Secretary Robert Lee with Prof. Karl Zhang and the Project GO cadets
Chou周慧宜, Director of the Education Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), was invited to give Project Global Officer Program (Project GO) cadets at George Mason University a presentation on Taiwan’s Mandarin learning resources and the scholarships provided by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education for a session on Taiwan. The session took place at the university on June 21.
It began with Robert Lee李存御, Secretary of the Education Division, providing an overview of Taiwan. He also shared some observations made by Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s Representative in the US, regarding political, defense and economic relations between Taiwan and the US, during a recent television interview on the Bloomberg channel.
Director Sophie Chou then gave the cadets details of Taiwan’s current higher education system, its wide range of Mandarin learning resources, and the Ministry’s Huayu Enrichment Scholarships for up to a year of Mandarin study in Taiwan and its Taiwan Scholarships for undertaking a degree in Taiwan.
After this the cadets separated into groups to discuss Taiwan’s Mandarin learning and diplomatic approaches to face international security challenges. They all involved themselves enthusiastically in the groups discussions and then gave significant feedback. A cadet from Tennessee State, for example, expressed his views about how the U.S. can work together along with other democratic partners in the international context to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense.
Project GO describes itself as “a Department of Defense initiative aimed at improving the language skills, regional expertise, and intercultural communication skills of future military officers.” It offers Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) students opportunities to gain valuable language skills and intercultural experiences, and in affiliation with George Mason University, Project GO provides a fully-funded program on the university’s Fairfax campus for students at this university and from other universities. The seven-week program includes courses with the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, and cultural activities beyond campus.