ABSTRACT

In this chapter, I introduce and analyze a second case study of the emergence and growth of women’s and gender studies in Taiwan, based on my research on feminist pathfinders at an institution I refer to as “Formosa University” (FU) and not by its real name. The women’s studies program at FU emerged after the lifting of martial law in 1987. With meager resources, a network of progressive scholars focused their energies on the development of an interdisciplinary curriculum with an emphasis on women’s studies. The new program also made collective efforts possible, bringing together the hitherto individual academic efforts and influence of feminists on the campus. I interviewed nine out of the total of thirty-one pathfinders at Formosa University. All nine of them came out of diverse backgrounds, and their stated reasons for why they became advocates of feminist studies reflect that diversity (see also Chapter 4).