Inauguration Ceremony for the Consortium of Global Hakka Studies
The Consortium of Global Hakka Studies (GHAS) first started in Taiwan, when universities from all over the world were invited to join it and work together to promote Hakka and ethnic studies on a global level. Now, its official inauguration ceremony will be held at the College of Hakka Studies, National Chiao Tung University on December 10, 2019. During the ceremony, institutes will exchange Memoranda of Understanding and announce the formal establishment of the GHAS.
The present consortium has grown out of an informal academic network built by its members over the past three years, who communicated and shared academic resources and findings. This is therefore an appropriate time to call for a platform able to integrate all of the communications and studies in this field in a single place.
In the winter of 2018, supported by the Hakka Affairs Council, experts of four Hakka studies institutes in Taiwan were joined by scholars from Japan, the US, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to discuss the formation of the GHAS. The GHAS aims to integrate the academic forces in different countries, collaborate on research projects and train the next generation of research talent.
After more than a year of preparation, the GHAS will be officially established in the winter of 2019. Representatives of the Hakka Affairs Council (Taiwan), National Central University (Taiwan), National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan), National United University (Taiwan), National Kaohsiung Normal University (Taiwan), The University of Hyogo (Japan), San Francisco State University (USA), Mahidol University (Thailand), Petra Christian University (Indonesia), University of Malaya (Malaysia) and National University of Singapore (Singapore) will be present to witness this historic moment.
We hope GHAS will become the essential network and platform for global Hakka studies, converging sparse research energy into one collective force, and eventually contributing to global Hakka studies and ethnic studies.