Introduction to
The Department of History
of National Taiwan Normal University

Background
  Taiwan Provincial Normal Institute, the original name of National Taiwan Normal University, was established on June 5, 1946; our department was originally called the Department of History and Geography. On June 5, 1955, the Institute became a university, Taiwan Provincial Normal University, with the Department of History and Geography belonging to the College of the Humanities; this department split into two separate departments in 1962. In 1967 Taiwan Provincial Normal University became the National Taiwan Normal University.

  The main goals of our department are: to produce top-quality professional historians and history research materials, and also, to train outstanding high school history teachers. In our teaching, besides emphasizing the fundamentals of historical research and training in related subjects, we also stress the development of pedagogical and research skills, for we are molding professionals.

  Continuing its upward path in professionalization and scholarship, in August 1970 the department began a masters degree program and expanded its offerings to include a doctoral program in 1977. From 1978 our department began to offer education courses during the summer semester for middle and high school history teachers throughout Taiwan, and in 1993 began holding graduate school classes on the weekends for middle and high school teachers to gain education credits.

Faculty

  Our faculty offer a wide range of courses, both in Chinese and Western history, and are organized as broad survey courses; by chronological period; by country and on special topics. Courses are taught by specialists in each field; at present our department has 28 full-time professors and 17 adjunct professors for a total of 45.

Curriculum

  We stress historiographical methodology and theory, developing middle/high school historical materials and methods, and teachers¡¦ training. Our courses include: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Chinese history, including courses on the Sui-Tang-Five Dynasties Periods; Song Dynasty History, and Ming-Qing History. Also, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Western history; Chinese cultural history; Survey of Taiwan History; and World History Survey course. In addition, we offer American history, Japanese history, Southeast Asian history, History of Western Political Thought, History of Western Science, and a course on Historiography and Anthropology.

Publications

  Since 1972, every year in June we have published our Bulletin of Historical Research; our latest issue is number 29.
  We assist our graduate students in publishing their theses and dissertations, our latest issue is number 30, and our undergraduate history majors publish their own annual The Hlistorical Buttiuation.

Resources

  We have a substantial collection of books in our departmental library, over 50,000 Chinese books and 12,000 Western books, over 3600 Japanese books and over 5500 books in our Special Collection. We subscribe to 548 journals, 392 of which are Chinese, 76 in Western Languages, 48 in Japanese, and 32 in Korean. In addition,
we have a History Education Research Room, with over 1000 types of materials, and lastly we have a good collection of audio-visual equipment and materials available to teachers and students.

Future Prospects for our Graduates

1.
Employment:
As originally our department was the only department in the country to train middle and high school history teachers, our graduates are employed, after a period of additional practical training, as teachers and administrators all over Taiwan. Our graduates also find positions as researchers, in museums, in cultural centers, and other related fields.

2.
a) Further Study: Students may choose to continue on to graduate school or go abroad to continue their education.

b) With their schools¡¦ approval, teachers in middle and high schools can take courses (summer vacation or on weekends) in our department to obtain education credits, as mentioned above.