What does it mean to be 'Taiwanese'?

Abstract

In May and June of 2023, I had the opportunity to travel to Taiwan through a CU Boulder Global Seminar program. The program was generously funded by the Tang Foundation. The seminar, titled “Memory Politics in Taiwan”, explored how the built environment in Taiwan creates and sustains narratives surrounding Taiwan’s history and continues to shape Taiwanese identity and politics. At the end of the course, we were asked to compile a photo essay answering the question “What does it mean to be ‘Taiwanese’?” The following is my response to that prompt, accompanied by images taken during our three-week journey.