The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) of TKU, who has been awarded with funding in the past two years from the Ministry of Education through its “Creative Strategic Alliance Education Programs of Technical Colleges and Universities,” was invited to exhibit the college’s efforts in promoting creative educational projects at the 2008 International Creative Education Exposition in Kaohsiung. The college, on behalf of the university, demonstrated E-pen, a computer software system for writing calligraphy and drawing Chinese ink painting, as well as the robotic soccer players developed by the College of Engineering at a stand that was well organized and creatively displayed. The display of these projects not only impressed the visitors but also the judges who awarded TKU stand with an honorable mention. Among the 200 participating organizations that included community colleges, elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and universities from all over the country, only 9 institutions were awarded with the top honor, while 18 won honorable mention.

CLA set up a center of Creative Learning and Innovation Industry two years ago. It has dedicated itself to promoting creativity at all levels of the university by organizing several competitions that addressed this topic. Furthermore, at the beginning of this year, it created a series of so-called 3 in 1 “Flagship Courses on Innovation Industry” that weave the concepts of culture with those of creativity and entrepreneurship into the syllabus design. For this innovative approach to teaching and learning, the college was invited by the Expo’s organizers who were the Kaohsiung Municipal Government and the Research Center for Innovations and Creativity of National Sun Yat-Sen University to showcase its ingenuity. For this exhibition, CLA put out an ensemble work that included contributions from the Carrie Chang Fine Arts Center (E-pen), College of Engineering (robots), and the Admission Section under the theme of “Culture of Creativity and Creativity in Culture.”

Winning an honorable mention pleases the Dean of CLA, ChaoYa-ly, who thanks the panel of judges that was led by Guo Jing-zi, a professor teaching at the Department of Special Education of the National Taiwan Normal University. Chao believes that TKU stand won for its balanced mix of machine and human touch, which were well illustrated in the clever deployment of the multi-media used for presentations, and friendly, approachable presenters who patiently explained everything. Chao also points out that most of the awarded organizations were of technical nature, but TKU, which is a comprehensive university, presented creativity in a unique blend of elements that cover culture, technology, and humanities. Hence, this diversity, Chao proudly says, was TKU’s trump card. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )