My impression of Taoyuan is a combination of the international airport, old streets in the military dependents’ villages, multiculturalism, and exotic cuisine. To familiarize students from different cities and counties with this land, Chung Yuan Christian University has been offering a general education course called “Taoyuan Studies” for the past six years. Hundreds of students have taken this “most enjoyable university general education course” to rediscover the beauty of Taoyuan from various perspectives and develop a deeper connection with the city.
In addition to cultivating foundational knowledge, the “Taoyuan Studies” program takes students on field trips to various locations such as Pingzhen Longde Rice Manor, Old Street Creek, Hengqi Distillery, Longtan Happy Farm, and Taoyuan Old House Settlement. It also integrates with Taoyuan Aviation City, Xiaoli Liang Cultural Zone, and other University Social Responsibility (USR) projects. Led by instructors, students engage in learning narrative expression and eventually present their group projects. For instance, Zhang Zhe-wei, a student from the Department of Architecture, presented the “Seven Greatest Aspects of Taoyuan” highlighting the most ponds, the most diverse ethnic composition, the most tourist factories, and the most land god temples in Taoyuan.
In the aspect of combining art with ecology, Ji Chuan-chen, a student from the Artificial Intelligence Bachelor’s Program, and his partner used photography in conjunction with live sounds from the Ba-de Ecological Pond Park. By scanning QR codes on a 3D model, people can listen to the sounds, creating a “two-senses experience” to attract individuals to learn about Taoyuan’s ecology. Huang Ying-rong, a student from the Human Development Bachelor’s Program, created a piece called “Surging Waves of Peach Blossoms,” which combines digital music with sounds of streams, rocks colliding, rustling of trees and dry grass, and bird chirping. Huang expressed that Taoyuan Studies is truly the most enjoyable course!
Chung Yuan Christian University’s General Education Center offers the “Taoyuan Studies” series of courses, which integrate expertise from various interdisciplinary fields such as sociology, art education, and cultural preservation. Through in-depth courses, students are guided to explore issues related to Taoyuan. This year’s courses focus on “Water Taoyuan.” In the course “Fun Taoyuan” taught by Professor He Cai-man, students learn about the foundational development of Taoyuan along the water channels and the resulting urban landscape. In the course “Art Speaks Taoyuan” taught by Professor Wei Li-xin, students use art to tell stories about water culture and agricultural ecology. Professor Ye Jun-lin teaches the course “Discovering Peach Blossom Springs,” which connects Taoyuan’s landscapes, historical sites, and communities to enhance students’ sense of identification with the city.
