Taiwan Studies
Current Research
The Fairbank Center has many initiatives supporting Taiwan Studies. It provides travel grants to support Harvard University undergraduates to study in Taiwan for advanced language training or research. Additionally, the Center supports a variety of Taiwan-focused scholar programs including its Hou Family Fellowship for Taiwan Studies.
Expertise

Steven Goldstein 戈迪溫
Sophia Smith Professor of Government, Emeritus, Smith College
Research interests: Chinese domestic and foreign policy, mainland China-Taiwan relations and US-Taiwan relations.
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Ya-wen Lei 雷雅雯
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Ya-wen Lei is Assistant Professor of Sociology, having previously been a Junior Fellow at the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. Professor Lei grew up in Taipei, Taiwan, graduating from her undergraduate studies at the National Taiwan University.
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David Der-Wei Wang 王德威
Edward C. Henderson Professor of Chinese Literature
David Der-wei Wang holds a joint appointment in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and the Department of Comparative Literature.
Read MoreResearch Projects
Hou Family Fellowship for Taiwan Studies
This year, the Fairbank Center announced a new fellowship thanks to a generous gift from the Hou Family. The Hou Family Fellowship for Taiwan Studies sponsors one North America-based scholar and one Taiwan-based scholar of Taiwan Studies as visiting fellows at the Fairbank Center to pursue Taiwan-related research for one or two semesters.
2016-17 Hou Family Fellows:
Chih-wei Chung
Chih-wei Chung is a Ph.D. candidate in Taiwan Literature at National Taiwan University. His research interests center around Sinophone Studies, particularly the realm of Taiwanese literature. He will be working on “Heteroglossia and articulations of Taiwan identity.”
Jaw-nian (Ted) Huang
Jaw-Nian Huang is a late-stage Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of California, Riverside. He is interested in taking a political economy perspective on the potential impacts that China’s economic rise might have on human rights and democracy in its neighboring societies and the rest of the world. At the Fairbank Center he will be working on a postdoctoral project dealing with “China’s Authoritarian Diffusion, Cross-Strait Media Politics, and Local Responses in Taiwan and Hong Kong.”
Taiwan Studies Workshop
The Taiwan Studies Workshop at the Fairbank Center, led by opens in a new windowProfessor Steven Goldstein, sponsors speakers, conferences and publications on Taiwan. For the past fifteen years, the Workshop has visited both Mainland China and Taiwan, meeting with government officials and academics regarding cross-strait relations and American policy in the region. It traditionally presents an overview of the state of relations in a February round table. Its members include faculty from Boston University, Boston College, MIT, Princeton University and Harvard University.
Harvard Student Taiwan Study Grants
The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies offers travel grants to support Harvard University undergraduates and graduate students to study in Taiwan for advanced language training or research. Most grants will be limited to support for roundtrip airfare. Preference is for study of Taiwan in the period after 1949 in humanities and social science disciplines, and in some cases research on imperial China. Eligible activities are: study at an academic institution in Taiwan, independent research, or attendance at academic meetings.
Read more about our applying to Taiwan Study grants for opens in a new windowundergraduates or opens in a new windowgraduate students.
Taiwan Studies on the Fairbank Blog
Read the latest on Taiwan from our faculty and affiliates at the opens in a new windowFairbank Center blog.
Latest News
New Funding for Taiwan Studies
The Fairbank Center and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China (Taiwan) have signed a memorandum of understanding for a three-year initiative that will bring new funding to Taiwan Studies at Harvard University. The funding will provide increased financial...
2018-2019: A Year in Review of China Studies at Harvard
Read and download our 2018-2019 Annual Report here. The 2018–19 academic year was a challenging time for all of us at the Fairbank Center who devote ourselves to the study of China. The U.S.-China bilateral relationship continues to deteriorate and there are few...
Resources at Harvard
- opens in a new windowHarvard Taiwanese Student Association
- opens in a new windowHarvard Taiwanese Cultural Society
- opens in a new windowHarvard Undergraduate Taiwan Leadership Conference
- opens in a new windowHarvard-Yenching Institute: Taiwan Scholars
- opens in a new windowHarvard Business School Association of Taipei