Two students who just completed the Master’s program at the French Department of TKU and that of TKU sister university in France, Universite of Jean Moulin, Lyon 3, Liao Chian Yi and Chuan Ya Hui have been awarded with a joint degree. They returned from France last week to give a presentation sharing their experiences with students.

The presentation was attended by Dr. Lin Pei-wha, the Chair of the department and 10 post grads on its Master’s program, in which Liao and Chuan spoke about the academic skills needed in France. They expressed the hardship of studying in a different country as well as culture, but having a positive attitude and independent spirit, one would sail through eventually. Chuan in particular mentioned the importance of early preparation. She suggested to her audience that they should pick up academic skills when they are in Taiwan already and that can be achieved through taking relevant courses offered at the department. She stressed that to master the reading and writing skills in French as early as possible is the key to successful studies in France.

Both Liao and Chuan admitted that they have definitely benefited from TKU’s forward-looking internationalized programs. Liao, who is currently working at Taiwan’s embassy in Malawi, says that her experience in France has made her a far more independent and critical thinker as the learning style there is entirely the opposite of that in Taiwan. Here, she points out that students rely very much on Professors’ feeding, whereas in France, students are challenged to find their own voices. As for Chuan, who researched on art promotion, is also pleased with her achievement and the opportunity of having a joint degree. She believes that her degree and one year experience in France where art is taken seriously, will surely help her find a good job in Taiwan.

Apart from the Universite of Jean Moulin , Lyon 3, the Universite De Paris-Sorbonne and Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies also provide the possibility of a joint degree with TKU. Deng Chia-yun of the French Department became the first to have ever received a joint degree since the university signed agreements with these sister universities. Currently, there are four more Master’s program students from the same department studying for such a degree in Lyon and Lin Sheng-bi, one associate professor from the Spanish Department and also a Ph.D student from the Chinese Department is doing a Ph.D. joint degree at the Universite De Paris-Sorbonne. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )