4-30-08

Media Release

Medical Practices in Japan-ruled Taiwan Subject of Chun Chiu Lecture at OSU

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Shiyung Liu, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinca in Taiwan, will deliver a lecture on “Prescribing Colonization: Medical Practices and Policies in Japan-Ruled Taiwan, 1895–1945” on May 8 at Oregon State University.

The free public lecture begins at 4 p.m. in the Memorial Union’s Journey Room.

The lecture will explore the construction of medical knowledge under Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan (1895–1945). Japan linked its colonial project to medical authority which, embodied in an empire-wide, integrated system of medical institutions, served as proof of a “civilizing mission” of modern medicine, Liu says.

Liu’s research explores the localized formation of Japanese colonial medicine in Taiwan. It also situates Taiwan’s experience in the international context where medical knowledge was funneled through the Japanese imperial system. His analysis links Taiwan to both the medical modernization of Japan and the technological capability of modern Western medicine.

Liu is associate research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica in Taiwan. He earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000. He specializes in modern medicine, Japanese colonial medicine, and historical demography. Liu’s book, “Prescribing Colonization: Medical Practices and Policies in Japan-Ruled Taiwan, 1895–1945,” will be published by the Association for Asian Studies by the spring of 2009.

This lecture is presented by the Chun Chiu Endowment and OSU’s Department of History. The Chiu Conference and Lecture Series are made possible by a gift from Chun Chiu, an OSU alumnus.

For more information, call 541-737-8560 or visit http://www.oregonstate.edu/cla/history