Dean’s Vision

Herewith I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Center for International Indigenous Affairs of our college for inviting me share my visions regarding the future development of our college. This hospitality is a great honor, and makes me recognize the importance of taking this topic seriously.

Undoubtedly, our college has been established as a unique one, under the leadership and support of the past rectors, deans, and the joint efforts of all the teachers and students of the college. We have outstanding teachers with expertise in various fields, diverse course offerings, an ideal learning environment and state-of-the-art equipment. But beyond that, we have also made outstanding contributions in the fields of ethnic relations and cultures, indigenous affairs and development, indigenous social work, indigenous languages and communication, and indigenous performance and arts in recent years. I am fortunate to be able to lead the college towards the next glorious future, building upon the solid foundations laid down by my predecessors. I have therefore set the following goals as the vision of the future development of our college: top academics, excellent teaching, social practice, and international minds.

First of all, I believe that the university, as a palace of knowledge, should devote itself to the study of knowledge. As such, pursuing top academic performance is my primary goal upon taking office. I believe our college will become the top indigenous research center through measures such as promoting domestic and foreign academic exchanges and cooperation, as well as striving for research projects in both public and private sectors. In addition, I am also committed to creating an excellent teaching environment throughout our college. I hope, through initiatives like cooperation projects between industry, government and academia, and cross-faculty curriculum resource integration, we can create a learning environment for our students to grow and thrive.

Furthermore, we must fulfill the social responsibilities of universities, a critical goal for higher education in the new era. It is also crucial to me that we develop new ways to combine the social responsibilities of our college with the local development so that we can actually participate in local creation and sustainable tribal management, especially through the implementation of specific projects. In addition, being international is a manner that any institution of higher education with a forward-looking vision should have. I look forward to promote the various international exchange programs of our college moving forward. By also strengthening the functions of the Center for International Indigenous Affairs of our college, I am confident that we can achieve these goals.

I am of the opinion that if a person lacks enthusiasm, he will accomplish nothing in life. Only by refining the sense of responsibility in the enthusiasm of life one’s existence transcend the limited meaning of him/herself. Based on this reflection of life, I sincerely hope we can step into the excitement and greatness of what lies ahead with all the teachers and students of the College of Indigenous Studies of National Dong Hwa University.

Prof. Chung-shan Shih

Dean of the College of Indigenous Studies