About ICCS

Introduction

The International Center for Cultural Studies (ICCS) at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) is a university-level research center established in 2015. The center adopts an interdisciplinary approach, uniting researchers and graduate students from diverse fields, including cultural studies, social theory, anthropology, communication technology, applied arts, literature, history, political philosophy, and other related disciplines.

ICCS fosters collaboration with both cross-university and international research institutions, promoting critical research on inter-Asian cultures with an emphasis on geopolitical analysis and a global perspective.

Aims

1. To address the challenging questions of our contemporary world.
2. To foster critical cultural studies with geopolitical and geohistorical awareness in a global context.
3. To promote transdisciplinary and transnational collaborative research.
4. To facilitate innovative, creative, and artistic knowledge production.
5. To encourage dialogue between academic circles and society.

Current Project

The theme of ICCS’s current project is: "Conflict, Justice, Decolonization: Asia in Transition in the 21st Century," which comprises six research clusters:

1. The Geopolitics and Cultural Economy of Societal Relations in a New Greater China
2. Digital Governance (under preparation)
3. Migration, Unequal Citizenship, and Critical Legal Studies
4. Environmental Crises and Multi-species Justice in the 21st Century: Toward Decolonization Beyond the Human
5. The Chinese Contemporary: Spiritual Problems, Sentimental Education, and Historical Narratives
6. Artistic Intervention and Social Activism

Highlights

1. Since 2018, ICCS has spearheaded several large-scale transnational and interdisciplinary research projects. These include the Ministry of Education's special field research centers, such as "Conflict, Justice, and Decolonization: Critical Studies of Inter-Asian Societies" (2018-2022)and"Conflict, Justice, and Decolonization: Asia in Transition in the 21st Century" (2023-2027).
2. ICCS held the2023 ACS Instituteunder Decolonization in the 21st Century, attracting about 100 international scholars, junior colleagues, and post-graduate students. The four themes of this summer school are 1) Global Capitalism and Technologies of Governance, 2) Marginalized Populations, Stateless Persons, and Migrant Laborers, 3) Environmental Justice/Injustice, and 4) Social Engagement and Art Intervention.
3. ICCS has conducted the Global Humanities Institute (GHI) project on "Migration, Logistics, and Unequal Citizens in Contemporary Global Context" (2019-2022), awarded by the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) and the A.W. Mellon Foundation.
4. ICCS also leads the Transit Asia Research Network (TARN), which brings together fourteen international research institutes to collaborate on research projects from 2023 to 2027. In 2024, the theme of the TARN annual meeting is “Industry-led Operations of Capital in the 21st Century: Geo-politics, Digital Governance, Labor Migration, and Artistic Intervention.”
5. ICCS has established the student-led online publication CJD Online Journal. The editorial board consists of five doctoral students and four MA students. Contributors include NYCU students from various countries, such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, India, Poland, South Africa, China, and Taiwan. From 2018 to 2024, the CJD Online Journal has published approximately 145 articles and four printed special issues.
6. ICCS encourages dialogue between universities and society. From August 15-18, ICCS organized a field trip to the ports in southern Taiwan for international scholars. During this visit, the scholars collectively gained insights and reflected on the issues faced by foreign workers in the deep-sea fishing industry. Over the course of four days, the group conducted a field study investigating the operations of Taiwan's ports and the working conditions of Southeast Asian migrant workers in Taiwan's deep-sea fishing industry. The scholars invited to participate in this field study came from diverse academic backgrounds, including migration and mobility studies, cultural studies, and critical legal studies.
7. ICCS prioritizes diverse intellectual research outputs, including monographs, edited volumes, peer-reviewed articles, podcasts, e-books, yearbooks, and video essays. For more details,please see ICCS Research Outputs Overview.

History

The predecessor of ICCS-NYCU was the Center for Emergent Cultural Studies (ECSC), a college-level unit founded in 2003 at National Chiao Tung University.

With the support of the Ministry of Education (MOE), ECSC managed the administration office of the University System of Taiwan (UST) Cross-Campus Program in Cultural Studies. In 2010, a provisional office for the International Institute for Cultural Studies of the University System of Taiwan (IICS-UST) was established to launch the International Program in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies (IACS), supported by the four universities in the University System of Taiwan. In 2012, IICS-UST was officially established and began recruiting students, with its admission office located at National Chiao Tung University.

To sustain this cross-campus platform, IACS was institutionalized, and ECSC-NCTU evolved into the International Center for Cultural Studies (ICCS-NCTU), a college-level unit in 2015 and a university-level unit in 2021.