BITSA Discusses Taiwanese Identity

In a college community acutely aware of cultural diversity, personal identity can be a charged issue.

On Saturday the Boston Intercollegiate Taiwanese Students Association (BITSA) hosted a conference at Harvard aimed at helping students explore the challenges of being first-generation Taiwanese-Americans. About 200 students registered for the conference, "Old School/New School: Bridging the Taiwanese-American Past and Future," known as BITSA '99,

"The conference was intended to promote and develop the idea of a Taiwanese identity, in light of our parents' identity as compared to our identity," Publicity Co-Director Alex L. Young '02 said.

The conference took its title from the first-generation status of most Taiwanese-American college students. The students' parents generally grew up in Taiwan, while the students themselves have grown up in America, Young said.

"I think the students really enjoyed themselves while they were here and got to learn about Taiwanese culture and values," said Conference Co-Director Emily M. Ko '00.

The conference included talks by notable Taiwanese-Americans, including keynote speaker Dr. Shutsang Liao, a political dissident and now a cancer researcher at the University of Chicago.

"He raised awareness of the need for democracy in Taiwan," Young said. "He is blacklisted by the Taiwanese government, meaning that his relatives were harassed in Taiwan."

Other events included discussion forums and a concert by Wang Lee-Hom, a popular singer in Taiwan and Asia who was recently on the Asian Billboard Top 10.

Young said the concert was a high point of the conference.

"He gave us a very intimate concert, a very unique concert that would be possible nowhere else," Young said. "He talked to us about his music and how his music reflects the values of the conference and his Asian and American influences."

Conference Co-Director Charles C. Lin '01 also said that the discussion panels were well received, especially the identity panel and the religion panel.

Attendee David G. La, a first-year at Williams College, agreed.

"For a one-day event, the variety of workshops was pretty good. The different workshops really opened my eyes to Taiwanese culture and diversity," La said.

Other students praised the speakers at the conference.

"I really enjoyed all the information from the speakers," attendee Sara Y. Lin, a first-year at Brown University.

Both La and Lin suggested that the conference would be even better were it held over an entire weekend, not just on one day.

"It was a lot of information for a day," Lin said.

Saturday's conference provided students with a wealth of information about Taiwanese-American issues, but it also gave students with a chance to get to know each other, Young said.

"Besides the meals, the panels, and the concert, there was a lot of networking going on, a lot of Taiwanese-Americans getting to know each other and realizing there is a pretty large community of Taiwanese-Americans," he said.

Organizers felt the conference was a success.

"The conference really exceeded all expectations," Young said, "just in terms of the number of people that ended up coming, the quality of the speakers, and the quality of the discussions, and just the general enthusiasm of the conference, as highlighted by the concert."

Seventeen committee members and 30 support staff members from the Harvard-Radcliffe Taiwanese Cultural Society helped organize the conference.