Taiwan's NCKU to open 'micro academy' on Matsu Island

台灣成大在馬祖開設“微學院”

Institute will be project-based and bring experts together to solve real-world problems

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tainan’s National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) on Friday (Aug 26) inked a memorandum of understanding with the Lienchiang County Government to establish a “micro academy” on Matsu Island.

This institute will be a multi-faceted, project-based, and mission-oriented one, Professor Taysheng Jeng (鄭泰昇), a professor at NCKU’s architecture department and the head of the micro academy, told Taiwan News. “It will not be a university in the traditional sense,” he said, adding that there will not be a permanent campus.

The academy will be incorporated into NCKU’s School of Planning and Design and bring together industry experts and academics from different backgrounds to jointly solve real-world problems based on local needs, according to Jeng. Each project will feature groups of 10 that will work in the city or urban areas.

There will also be both virtual and physical courses, Jeng said. Virtual lessons will be recorded and uploaded online.

He pointed out that the micro academy will serve as an NCKU extension school. The professor explained that “micro” refers to the concept of “start small, think big.”

Current projects will focus on different aspects of design and architecture, he said. However, if things go well, Jeng expects to bring micro academies to other parts of Taiwan as well as increase the scope of projects, including ones related to sustainability.

In the future, NCKU hopes to establish a humanities academy in Matsu and micro-academies in Tainan and Penghu, Jeng said. As to why NCKU is largely choosing Taiwan’s outer lying islands to set up these institutes, the professor said these islands are trying to use culture and humanities to reinvent its Cold War-era frontline image.

To this end, Matsu launched the “Gazing Fortress Matsu” project, which has been ongoing for two years. The project focuses on the “transformation and reinterpretation of military cultural heritage,” according to its website.

A special exhibit, which also opened on Friday at NCKU’s art center, spotlights the two-year-long reconstruction plan for 16 military bases on Matsu selected by NCKU.

As part of the front line between Taiwan and China during the Cold War, Matsu has always found it difficult to transition its battlefield landscapes into potential world heritage sites. However, through this project, these spaces are repurposed and their original functions are expanded for different performances and exhibits that “enrich the content and diversity" of the Matsu Islands.

The endeavor also “documents the process of transformation through integrated strategic planning, art projects, interviews, and art site documentation projects,” according to the website.