Dr. Kun‐Hui Ku

This seminar provides an overview of the studies on the Austronesian-speaking peoples in Taiwan, whose linguistic diversity has been described as “Taiwan’s Gift to the World”. It will start briefly with the archaeological and linguistic importance of Taiwan in the theories of Austronesian Expansion and then explore themes that are common to indigenous peoples of Taiwan and the greater Austronesian world (e.g. house ideology, emplacement, status competition and precedence, origin and ancestry etc.). Students will be exposed to the Formosan cultural diversity and research potentials that are crucial and current to the life of indigenous peoples on the island.