The department of History at Soochow University was established in 1972 and has been offering a master’s program since the turn of the millennium. 12 applicants are accepted into the program each year. Our current chair of department is Dr. Jun-Feng Yang. We currently have 11 faculty members (4 full time professors, 4 Associate Professors, and 3 Assistant Professors), 8 of which hold Doctorate degrees. Our undergraduate program consists of 269 students and our master’s program of 69 students.
The department of History at Soochow University is renowned for its courses in art history. In the past few years, the study of modern historiography and the teaching and research of historical theory have been our main areas of focus and development. Our M.A. program offers 2 major fields of study: ''Chinese-Western historiography'' and ''Archives and Records Management''. In addition to our student-centered full time faculty, the department regularly invites adjunct and visiting professors as well as renowned historians from the National Palace Museum, Academia Sinica, and other academic institutes in Taiwan. We also recruit visiting scholars from Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Fudan University, Sun Yat Sen University and other elite universities from China to teach our courses.
Our department stresses the importance of improving our students’ understanding and knowledge in subjects related to history and cultivating our students’ ability to utilize their learned knowledge in history. Besides courses aimed at developing the data compilation, reading, writing, critical thinking, discourse analysis, and verbal skills of students, we also offer various courses that focus on the practicality of applying history to reality and activities focusing on applied and public history to further prepare our students in establishing their career.
The department and student association offices, conference rooms, student reading and discussion rooms, and library are located on the 6th floor of the Second Academic and Research Building on the Waishuangshi campus. The campus location is enclosed by a scenic landscape of streams and hills and is near the National Palace Museum and the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, making it an excellent location for studying.
