Lecture by Assoc. Prof. Yeh Er-jian in the 51st talk of the “Tan Lark Sye Lecture Series”
The 51st session of the Tan Lark Sye Lecture Series, organized by the Institute of International Education and the Tan Lark Sye Institute of New Era University College (NEUC), was held on 24 June. The session featured AssociateProfessor Dr. Yeh Er-jian from National Dong Hwa University, as the guest speaker, delivering a lecture titled “Subordination and Agency in a Cross-Imperial Network: Japanese-Philippine Forestry Knowledge Production and Actors in Colonial Taiwan”. The lecture was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pek Wee Chuen, Head of the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at New Era University College, and attracted more than 150 participants. In the lecture, Assoc. Prof. Yeh examine the trans-imperial network connecting Japan, the United States, Taiwan, and the Philippines, analyzing how Taiwan participated in forestry surveys in the Philippines. His talk will explore how Taiwan exercised agency in the production of knowledge while simultaneously operating within the power structure of the central government in Tokyo.
Associate Professor Yeh Er-jian, holds a PhD in Geography from Durham University, United Kingdom. He has led several major research projects, including the Hakka Cultural Studies Project at Academia Sinica, the Nantou City Gazetteer, and the Revised Mingjian Township Gazetteer.
His research focuses on historical geography, colonial history, environmental history, and the circulation of knowledge. His work examines how historical actors, including colonial bureaucrats, scientists, Chinese merchants, and local communities, produced, disseminated, and applied knowledge within complex and overlapping power structures. Adopting a trans-imperial perspective, he reinterprets the historical development of East and Southeast Asia through the lens of interconnected imperial networks. His scholarship has significantly advanced academic discussions on trans-imperial networks, colonial knowledge production, and regional historical geography. His research offers important historical insights and makes substantial contributions to the study of the colonial history of East and Southeast Asia.
During the lecture, Assoc. Prof. Yeh focused on the formation and circulation of forestry knowledge during the expansion of the Japanese Empire. He explored how Japan, the Philippines, and colonial Taiwan were connected through trans-imperial networks that facilitated the exchange and implementation of forestry knowledge, technologies, and institutions. He argued that colonial knowledge did not flow unidirectionally from the imperial center to its colonies. Rather, it was continuously circulated, reconfigured, and reproduced among different colonial territories, giving rise to knowledge networks that transcended both geographical and imperial boundaries.
Following the lecture, participants and moderator actively engaged with the speaker during the Q&A session, raising questions related to the research design and methodology. The exchange further strengthened the institution’s mission to advance academic research and foster cross‑disciplinary collaboration.
