Huayu BEST partnership strengthens students’ Chinese language and cultural opportunities

The Hamilton Lugar School at Indiana University (IU) hosted a signing ceremony on August 9 to renew the Taiwan Huayu BEST (Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent) Program, a partnership between IU and National Taiwan University (NTU) since 2021.

School News Aug 15, 2024

Huayu BEST signing ceremony 2024

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A group of people stand on a staircase. On either side of the group are banners for Taiwan and the Huayu BEST program.

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The Huayu BEST program supports the teaching of Chinese culture and language, also known as “Huayu,” within the Hamilton Lugar School’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Chinese Flagship Program. The program also provides student scholarships for study abroad at NTU, supports professional development in Chinese language learning and teaching for IU East Asian Languages and Cultures faculty, and advances cross-institutional collaboration between IU and NTU in areas of mutual interest.

During his welcome, Dean John Ciorciari welcomed the representatives of the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office (TECO) in Chicago, which supports the program. Ciorciari also noted the significance of having State Representatives Ryan Lauer and David Abbott at the event, calling their presence “a reflection of how important this relationship is to [the state of] Indiana as well as to Indiana University.”

IU Vice President for International Affairs Hannah Buxbaum welcomed the guests on behalf of IU President Pamela Whitten and recalled that the 2021 signing ceremony took place online. She reflected on the relationship between IU and NTU. “We have a long history of joint engagement not only in Chinese language pedagogy and research but also more broadly in a range of different disciplines,” she said. “We are very excited about deepening and broadening that partnership in other areas of research collaboration as well.”

TECO Director General Dennis Yen-Feng Lei said he appreciated the “momentous engagement” which had taken place during the first three years of partnership and predicted a future of even “more understanding and more cooperation.”

NTU Associate Vice President for International Affairs Jiun-Haw Lee said that since the partnership began, NTU has welcomed 22 IU students to their campus who have “shown great enthusiasm for Mandarin and Taiwanese culture.”

“They have faced academic challenges that have fostered their growth and deepened their cultural appreciation,” said Lee. He noted that the NTU faculty and graduate students have benefited from the engagement as well.

IU Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures Chair Charles Lin expressed appreciation for the Huayu BEST partnership. “It has the best acronym, and we want to thank you for sending the best staff to be with us,” he said, referring to Victoria Cheng, manager of international affairs at National Taiwan University. Cheng works on the IU campus, playing a key role in facilitating this partnership.

“The Huayu BEST program has had a tremendous impact, offering our students the opportunity to visit Taiwan and to study Chinese in Taiwan,” said Lin. “That is life changing to our students.”

IU Chinese Language Flagship Director Yea-Fen Chen, a graduate of both NTU and IU, said “Since 2021, both the Chinese program and the Chinese Flagship programs at IU have greatly benefited from our collaboration with the IU NTU Huayu BEST program.”

State Representatives Ryan Lauer and David Abbott both agreed that the program has a state-wide impact.

“I think what we’re doing here today is instrumental,” Abbott said. “It’s actually game changing because it’s going to bring our countries closer together which is so important for our international situation.”

Lauer, who is co-chair for the Indiana House of Representatives Taiwan Friendship Caucus said, “We talk about economic levels, our collaboration, national security, but what I always end up thinking most about is how much in common our people have … our mutual love for freedom, for innovation.”

Thanks to the Huayu BEST Program renewal, the partnership between Indiana University and National Taiwan University will continue to provide student enrichment opportunities and foster further academic exchanges between the institutions.