Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Los Angeles

Distinguished Taiwan Alumni Award Nomination 2018

全球留臺傑出校友獎選拔作業推薦表

Taiwan Ministry of Education

Achievements Highlights

Steven A. Martin, Ph.D.

Steven’s outstanding achievements following his scholarship in the Taiwan Studies program at National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Steven’s experiences studying at National Chengchi University, Taiwan inspired him to become a lifelong learner and teacher. He has documented his personal journey in the form of a series of journals, videos, and Website instruction for his students. This has now grown to include a wide range of content: StevenAndrewMartin.com

Steven has dedicated several Web pages to his scholarship in Taiwan, including unique ethnographic fieldwork with the Bunun, fortunately being present at just the right time to document a traditional ethnic Taiwanese lifestyle and culture:

StevenAndrewMartin.com /Taiwan/

StevenAndrewMartin.com /Ethnographic-Research/

Ethnographic filmmaking and participation in the film industry of Taiwan led Steven to develop 3-online multimedia and educational resource agencies and consultancies, through which he continues to encourage others to follow a path of international education and learning:

StudyAbroadJournal.com/

UniversityFilmworks.com/

EducationAbroadAsia.com/

After graduating from National Chengchi University, Taipei, with a Master of Arts degree in Taiwan Studies, Steven was offered a lecturing position in the Faculty of International Studies, Prince of Songkla University in Phuket, Thailand. At this prestigious royal university, he incorporated Taiwan Studies into the curriculum for students of Eastern Civilization and Southeast Asian Civilization courses:

StevenAndrewMartin.com /Eastern-Civilization/

StevenAndrewMartin.com /Southeast-Asian-Civilization/

While teaching in Thailand, Steven also obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in Hospitality and Tourism Management, and received a full PhD scholarship in Environmental Management through Prince of Songkla University. For his PhD, Steven developed social, economic, and environmental sustainability indicators in Southeast Asia, and interviewed many of the world’s most famous surfers and surf research scientists, incorporating their insights into what became a ground-breaking study on SRSI (Surf Resource Sustainability Index). After being awarded the 2012 Best Paper Award in Green Tourism at the Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) conference in Taipei, this work became a series of five published papers in international journals and one book chapter:

StevenAndrewMartin.com /Surf-Tourism-Research/

Steven received tenure in 2013 in the Faculty of International Studies, Department of Thai and ASEAN Studies, at Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand, based on his teaching experience and publication record. He has continued to publish research in various fields, and in recognition of his ongoing work he has been officially nominated for the position of Assistant Professor in Social Sciences and Anthropology, Prince of Songkla University:

StevenAndrewMartin.com /Awards-Scholarship/

Further ethnographic research at Academia Sinica

The personal relationships Steven forged in Taiwan as an international post-graduate student made for long-term opportunities in filmmaking, publishing and scholarship. At National Chengchi University, Steven studied with world-leading researchers such as Professor David Blundell, who opened doors to indigenous communities in Southern Taiwan, especially the Bunun, whose rapidly-disappearing cultural heritage Steven documented in a series of unique films. Steven also worked with other renowned academics, including Professor Peter Bellwood (Australia National University) who he first met at Academia Sinica.

In 2014, Steven presented his research: “Contextualizing island Formosa through cultural heritage, digital mapping, and museology: A new trial for the journey home to the Bunun villages of old Laipunuk, Taiwan” at the 2014 International Conference on Formosan Indigenous peoples held at Academia Sinica, and was subsequently invited to National Chengchi University as an alumnus and guest speaker at the International Doctoral Program in Asia-Pacific Studies (IDAS).

The relationships formed in Taiwan’s research institutes led to the production of ethnographic films and research publications in peer-reviewed academic journals, and recently producing a chapter for a new publication coordinated and edited by Academia Sinica commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines:

Martin, Steven Andrew, and David Blundell. 2017. “Cultural Continuum among the Bunun of Laipunuk (Nei Ben Lu), Southern Taiwan.” Religion, Law, and State: Cultural Re-invigoration in a New Age. Hsun Chang and Chih-wei Tsai, eds. Chapter 8. Taipei: Academia Sinica and Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines. Pp. 217-248. [Refereed]

More than a decade since graduating from NCCU, Steven is very active in international academic conference presenting, filmmaking, and publishing:

Stevenandrewmartin.com /Publication/

Stevenandrewmartin.com /Video-Film/

Experiences in Taiwan Studies and Steven’s development through the years

Steven has often commented that one of the most outstanding aspects of being a graduate student in Taiwan was the way in which the experience opened his heart to research and learning.

Taiwan set him on a path of lifelong learning, and he still embraces this philosophy in the Chinese context of “Huo dao lao, xie dao lao” (活到老学到老), “Live arrive old, study arrive old”, an idea which is particularly relevant to the synergy of Taiwan’s unique academic culture and Taiwanese hospitality.

Steven has always been very open to communicating and collaborating with other students and scholars across disciplines and fields of study.

Today, Steven shares the intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm gained in Taiwan with his international undergraduate and graduate students from Thailand, Southeast Asia and beyond, as well as with the global audience of his many journal articles, conference proceedings and book chapters.

Steven’s success in Thailand links well the new Taiwan southbound initiative for progressively interacting with ASEAN countries in terms of economic and cultural exchanges.

Academic Publications and proceedings in Taiwan Studies

Martin, S. A. (2006). Ethnohistorical perspectives among the Bunun: A case study of Laipunuk, Taiwan. Master’s thesis. National Cheng-Chi University, Taipei, ROC.

Martin, S. A. (2010). Laipunuk (Nei Ben Lu)—The last frontier of the Bunun during the Japanese occupation on Taiwan: Ethnographic narratives of an Isbukun elder. Scholarly presentation [PowerPoint]. 3rd Annual PSU Phuket Conference: Multidisciplinary Studies on Sustainable Development. Nov. 17–19. Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand.

Martin, S. A. (2011). Laipunuk (Nei Ben Lu)—The last frontier of the Taiwan aborigines during the Japanese occupation on Taiwan: Ethnographic narratives of a Bunun elder. The International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies (IJAPS), 7(1) 123–142.

Martin, S. A. (2011). Music, marriage and adaptation among the Bunun from lost Laipunuk, southern Taiwan. CD Proceedings of the 4th Annual PSU Research Conference: Multidisciplinary Studies on Sustainable Development(p. 46). Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand, November 16–18.

Martin, S. A. (2011). Rebuilding mama’s house—An ethnohistorical reconstruction and homecoming of the Bunun on Taiwan. Journal of International Studies, 1(2) 61–78. Phuket, Thailand: Faculty of International Studies, Prince of Songkla University.

Martin, S. A., & Blundell, D. (2014). Contextualizing island Formosa through cultural heritage, digital mapping, and museology: A new trial for the journey home to the Bunun villages of old Laipunuk, Taiwan. Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Formosan Indigenous peoples: Contemporary Perspectives (p. 89). Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC, September 15–17.

Martin, S. A., & Blundell, D. (2014). Marginalization, social change, and heritage: A continuum of Bunun in southern Taiwan. Proceedings of the 20th Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Congress Cambodia 2014 (p. 210). Siem Reap, Cambodia, January 12–18.

Martin, S. A., & Blundell, D. (2017). Cultural continuum among the Bunun of Laipunuk (Nei Ben Lu), southern Taiwan (pp. 215–246). In H. Chang and A. Mona [C. Tsai] (Eds.), Religion, law and state: Cultural re-invigoration in the new age. Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines and SMC: Taipei.