Under the invitation of the American Cultural Center, American Institute in Taiwan, Dr. Chen Hsiao-chuan, Chair of the Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of the Americas, led a total of 26 students of the institute to visit the AIT on October 19. The group was warmly welcomed by Scott Robinson, director of the center.

Serving as a guide to the TKU visiting group, Director Robinson introduced how the AIT works. He also led the students for a tour in the ACC’s library, which can provide all kinds of information about the America both in papers and on the internet. He said that TKU students were welcomed to use of the library by making reservation if they needed information about the U.S.

Dr. Chen said that Graduate Institute of the Americas is the only academic organization in Taiwan that dedicates to cultivate the studies of the pan- American regions. “I hope our visit to the AIT can make our students understand the close relations between our institute and the American Cultural Center and let our students understand how to make use of the resources available in the ACC,” Chen said.

Lin Chia-yu, a first year student in the Graduate Institute of the Americas, said that she did not have the chance to visit such organization as the AIT before. “It is a mind-blowing experience for me.” The visit also marks the first field trip after the merge of the two graduate institutes, Graduate Institute of American studies and Graduate Institute of Latin American Studies. The previous two institutes become two divisions of the Graduate Institute of the Americas. “The trip can let students of the two division better know each other,” Lin noted. Another student of the institute, Han Che-ya, said that now he knows there are plenty of resources in the ACC, he will definitely make use of it. ( ~Yeh Yun-kai )