Associate Professor Kuan-Ju Chen, UOG, writes a Letter to the Editor

Associate Professor Kuan-Ju Chen, Agricultural Economics/Senior Liaison & Asia Pacific Universities Consortium of the University of Guam  talks about UOG's role as a center of cultural exchange and workforce development in this letter to the editor: 


Editor,

The University of Guam has positioned itself as the hub of cultural exchange and workforce development for neighboring states in Micronesia and the greater Pacific region. It is vital to the ongoing collaborations with our partnering institutions in Taiwan. The academic engagement between Guam and Taiwan will foster strong, vibrant, and dynamic relationships between faculty, students, stakeholders, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and communities. 

Through multifaceted cooperation with Taiwan, the donation from the J. Yang & Family Foundation of California, through the Asia Pacific Studies Center project at UOG, will be able to cultivate talents in related fields (e.g., agriculture, sustainability, business, Chinese language, green technology, industrial development, indigenous cultures). This connection of higher education will be the centerpiece of Taiwan and Guam’s relationship, introducing many exchanges in the years to come.
 
Following UOG's Strategic Plan, the Asia Pacific Studies Center will establish a strong sense of presence for cultural exchange among neighboring islands and develop a platform to facilitate mutual understanding and concretize multicultural collaboration. This will involve the concerted effort of faculty members, staff, students, alumni, and donors/supporters to make a sustainable contribution to the cultural, social, economic, and technological development in regional and national contexts. The center will create an atmosphere that promotes diversity and inclusion on campus and stimulates out-of-the-box thinking to help students/faculty traverse different geographical, intellectual, cultural, aesthetic, and linguistic boundaries.
 
Our next J. Yang Scholarship ceremony will be held on Oct. 8 at the Fokai Shop to reward the scholarship recipients from National Taitung University in Taiwan for supporting the 2023 Taiwan-Guam Austronesian International Arts Exhibition, taking place at the Hyatt Regency Guam from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10.
 
For more information about the Taiwan-Guam relationship and Asia Pacific Studies Center projects, please contact Kuan-Ju Chen, senior liaison of the Asia Pacific Universities Consortium at UOG, at chenkj@triton.uog.edu.
 
Kuan-Ju Chen
Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics/Senior Liaison 
Asia Pacific Universities Consortium
University of Guam
Mangilao

Editor’s Note: See story Building bridges: Taiwan keeps partners close in the Oct. 2 issue of the Journal for more information on the links between Taiwan institutions and the University of Guam, and  Corporate Giving in the Oct. 2 issue for more on the J. Yang & Family Foundation’s donation. mbj