My research could be roughly divided into four interrelated quadrants: Solomon Islands ethnography, Oceania and Comparative Austronesian Studies, anthropological methodology and theories, and the practice of anthropological knowledge and public engagement.
Taking the approach of historical anthropology, I have been working with the Wala (Langalanga) people in the Solomon Islands for over two decades. My core concerns are cultural encounters and local agency, especially in the context of colonial modernities, which are manifested through the mechanisms of currency/finance, capitalism, law, Christianity, and technology. In addition to academic papers, I am currently working a book project, Transplacement as a Way of Life: An Ethnography of the Langalanga, Solomon Islands (both in Chinese and English).
In the past few years my research expands to the whole Oceania, connecting to Taiwan indigenous people through the perspective of Comparative Austronesian Studies. Starting from 2018, I convene the integrated thematic project ‘Indigenous People, States and Governance: Comparative Austronesian Perspective’ in Academia Sinica. My own sub-project ‘Cultural Heritage and Cultural Governance in Contemporary Oceania’ explores various aspects and transformations of cultural governance in contemporary Oceanic Austronesian societies in the milieu of global heritage discourses.
In addition to ethnographic and area studies, I have also reflected on the relationships between anthropological fieldwork and knowledge construction, and written on various topics including the craft of fieldwork, ’the community of communities’, implicit comparison, and co-acting empathy.
My public engagements take various forms. For example, I worked with a group of writers in the field to publish a bilingual book recording their culture, Birana i Wala: Growing up in Langalanga (2018). I worked as Museum Director (2020-2023), and curated a special exhibition ‘Anthropologists Money Bag: the Social Life of Currencies’ and a digital exhibition 'Pandemic Cultures: An Exploration'. I also work with some new-generation anthropologists on the blog ‘Guava Anthropology’ (since 2009) and turn it into a book (2016) to popularize anthropology in Taiwan.
My research can be roughly divided into four interrelated quadrants: Solomon Islands ethnography, Oceania and Comparative Austronesian Studies, anthropological methodology and theories, and the practice of articulating anthropological knowledge and public engagement.
Using the approaches of historical anthropology, I have been working with the Wala (Langalanga) people in the Solomon Islands for over two decades. My core concerns are cultural encounters and local agency, especially in the context of colonial modernities, which are manifested through the mechanisms of currency/finance, capitalism, law, Christianity, and technology. In addition to academic papers, I am currently working a book project, Transplacement as a Way of Life: An Ethnography of the Langalanga, Solomon Islands (to be published in Chinese and English).
Over the past few years my research has expanded to the whole of Oceania, and in articulation with Taiwan’s Indigenous people through comparative Austronesian studies. Since 2018 I have convenned the integrated thematic project “Indigenous People, States and Governance: Comparative Austronesian Perspective” at Academia Sinica. My own sub-project “Cultural Heritage and Cultural Governance in Contemporary Oceania” explores various aspects and transformations of cultural governance in contemporary Oceanic societies in the milieu of global heritage discourse.
In addition to ethnographic and area studies, I have also reflected on the relationships between anthropological fieldwork and knowledge construction, and written on various topics including the craft of fieldwork, ‘the community of communities’, implicit comparison, and co-acting empathy.
My public engagements take various forms. For example, I worked with a group of writers in Solomon Islands to publish a bilingual book recording their culture, Birana i Wala: Growing up in Langalanga(2018). I curated a special exhibition “Anthropologists’ Money Bag: The Social Life of Currencies” in our institute museum (2017-2018). I have also worked with some new-generation anthropologists on the blog ‘Guava Anthropology’ (since 2009), which we turned into a book (2016) to popularize anthropology in Taiwan.