Tamkang University’s College of Liberal Arts has been awarded a NT$2.75 million grant under the Ministry of Education’s 2025 “Humanity-Social Sciences and Industrial Innovation Linkage Program” (iLink). Including previous phase-zero and phase-one grants, the total awarded funding now approaches NT$6 million. The winning project, titled “Tamkang University College of Liberal Arts Innovation Program: Cultivating Interdisciplinary and Sustainable Talent for the AI Era”, will run from February 1, 2025, to January 31, 2027. Dean Huei-Chun Chi emphasized that this cross-disciplinary initiative integrates generative AI, data analysis, sustainability, net-zero carbon goals, and ESG into departmental and college-wide curricula. The goal is to strengthen students’ learning outcomes and equip them with immediately applicable industry skills.

Since receiving the phase-zero iLink grant in February 2023, the College followed up with phase-one support for its project “Reimagining the College of Liberal Arts: Fostering Cross-Disciplinary Narrative Skills in the Digital Age.” The project involved curriculum redesign across five departments—Chinese, History, Information and Library Science, Mass Communication, and Information Communication—embedding project-based internship modules and systematically integrating required and elective courses. The program also included collaborations with industry to host themed competitions and encouraged students to participate in national contests to demonstrate their learning outcomes. A key teaching strategy was using AI tools to cultivate diverse competencies in cross-disciplinary contexts.

The program's effectiveness has been fully demonstrated through the dedicated efforts of faculty and students. Mass Communication students earned multiple top honors, including consecutive championships in the Campus News Awards Best in Short Video, 3 excellence awards in the PeoPo Citizen Journalism Awards, and top prizes in the Global Chinese Sustainable Reporting Awards and Taipower’s University Environmental Reporting Awards. Students from the Information Communication department won gold medals in the Future Young Lions Competitions Taiwan, the Service Innovation Co-Creation Competition, and the Global Chinese Educational Game Design Awards. Student outcomes across other departments also shone in the annual Liberal Arts Week and final capstone project exhibitions. Meanwhile, faculty in the Department of Chinese actively embraced AI, with several obtaining certification in generative AI from the Institute for Information Industry and incorporating it into their teaching to enhance student performance.

Looking ahead to the new two-year second-phase project, Dean Chi stated that the focus will shift more heavily toward combining AI with sustainability in response to emerging industry trends. The program will aim to train talent in curation and library science, data analytics, content production management, and media marketing. She stressed that humanities students are not at a disadvantage in this AI-dominated era. By integrating literature, information science, and communication studies, the project seeks to develop students’ interdisciplinary communication and collaboration skills, supported by broad and diverse learning experiences and timely engagement opportunities.

Regarding sustainability, the College plans to infuse pressing issues of environmental and social concern into courses across its five departments, nurturing social responsibility and civic awareness. Dean Chi concluded, “Our ultimate goal is to cultivate talent with a strong humanities foundation who are also adept in AI. These students will be capable of innovation and leadership, reflecting Tamkang’s commitment to the value of the humanities in a digital era.”

SDGs #SDG04 Quality Education #SDG08 Decent Work and Economic Growth #SDG09 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure #SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities #SDG12 Responsible Consumption and Production #SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals

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