The North American Taiwan Studies Association 2026 Undergraduate Research Paper Competition Announcement
The North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA) is pleased to announce the results of the 2026 Undergraduate Paper Competition. This year, we received entries from students based in the United States and Canada, addressing topics ranging from online anti-transgender discourses in Taiwan and their connections to sources in Europe and the United States, to the potential and limitations of Taiwan’s Indigenous Languages Development Act, and the comparative conditions of migrant labor in the semiconductor industry in the United States and Taiwan.
The review committee was impressed to see that the student authors demonstrated both the ambition and analytical acuity to tackle these challenging and important issues. While acknowledging the strong writing skills and critical interventions demonstrated by these emerging scholars, the committee also noted a shared tendency among the submissions to devote insufficient space to the description and interpretation of empirical and theoretical detail. The committee would like to encourage all participants to continue sharpening their craft of observation and interpretation.
In the spirit of supporting the hard work of emerging scholars, the review committee has decided to confer an Honorable Mention on Lorraine Pan for the essay, “An Analysis of Gender-Critical Groups’ Discourse in Taiwan: Patterns and Behaviours of Transphobic Online Speech in Chinese-Speaking Communities.” The committee commends the essay for engaging a critical and rapidly developing political issue in Taiwan, as well as in Europe and the United States, and praises Pan’s clear articulation of the essay’s theoretical framework.
This year’s review committee consisted of Ting-an Lin (Philosophy, University of Connecticut), I-Lin Liu (Chiu Fellow in Taiwan Studies, Oregon State University), and Chee-Hann Wu (Theatre Studies, New York University).
2026 Awardees
Honorable Mention:
Lorraine Pan (University of Toronto)
"An Analysis of Gender-Critical Groups’ Discourse in Taiwan: Patterns and Behaviours of Transphobic Online Speech in Chinese-Speaking Communities"
Acceptance Remarks: “As someone born in China—an environment where feminist and queer information is intentionally censored and erased—published works from Taiwan became my earliest point of access to queer communities and knowledge. After moving to Canada and building my academic foundation within an English environment, I have decided to amplify my observations of Taiwanese society, which are often overlooked in the Western contexts. As a Chinese diaspora, my positionality in relation to Taiwan requires my careful attention, especially in considering whether my perspective may cause unintended harm. Thanks to my Taiwanese queer friends, I was able to get feedback that helped me complete this piece. This essay is also my care and love in return to this community that has long inspired me.”
