History at National Cheng Kung University

This award is available to pursue a full-time Master’s Degree program in History at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU). The program is taught in Mandarin. It focuses on Taiwan History, supplemented by World History and Chinese History courses.

The strength of this program is founded upon the historical heritage of the ancient capital in Taiwan, City of Tainan. Being established almost four centuries ago, Tainan was the political capital of Taiwan for more than two thirds of the island’s history. It was also the center of commercial, finance, and cultural activities from the Dutch East India Company to the present day, with many historical and archeological sites available for historical interest and investigation. To take advantage of this historical heritage, our Master’s program includes courses on Taiwan’s indigenous history, business and maritime history, social and intellectual history, as well as historical fieldwork and museology. In short, to understand Asia, it’s necessary to understand Taiwan which is Asia’s heart. To understand Taiwan, it’s necessary to start from Tainan, which is the origin of Taiwan civilization.

As Taiwan was ruled by many empires before 1945, this program also extends to include courses on East Asian and Southeast Asian histories. In particular, Maritime Asia has been the recent focus of our course development, with specialists offering courses to train students interested in Indonesia, Japan, and Okinawa. In addition, continental Asia and Chinese history, including the China Proper, North Asia, Northeast Asia, and the Indochina are also available on a selective basis.

Focusing not only on the general historical heritage of Tainan, NCKU has specifically inherited from the Japanese period of being the center of technological and engineering training in Taiwan. And for that, it has long emphasized the academia-industry collaboration, leading it to rank first in terms of active involvement with academia-industry collaboration nationwide. And therefore, new possibilities in inter-disciplinary or collaboration courses would also be initiated in our Master’s program. In recent years, attempts have been made to offer courses related to urban planning, architecture, medical history, and food culture.

The award is co-sponsored by the National Cheng Kung University. The program will take 3 years to earn a master’s degree. International students spend their first year in studying Chinese in order to improve their Chinese language and study skills to the level needed for the program study. After completing a Chinese language program, international students will continue their studies toward their master’s degree. NCKU offers full tuition waivers and student dormitory as long as the candidate maintains satisfactory academic standards.