Taiwan Today

More and more these days, notable people, including writers, singers and even models, are being sought out to teach courses at universities. Popular writers Jiu Ba Dao and Zhu Xue-heng, who is best known for translating The "Lord of the Rings" into Chinese, are both instructing university students these days. Jiu Ba Dao has called on his students to watch movies and read novels and cartoon books. Meanwhile, Zhu, a popular figure idolized by local young males who stay at home all day playing on the Internet, has divided his students into groups with a task for each group to help boost the business of various stores. Groups that fail will be flunked. Zhu's practice is literally a Taiwanese version of the American hit show "The Apprentice," in which Donald Trump fires someone from a losing team of contestants each week. The Department of Communications Design from Shih Chien University has for the first time invited the author Jiu Ba Dao to teach a course on scriptwriting. His appearance in the classroom incited many students to scream, turning the course introduction session into a sort of fan club meeting. The author of 52 books, Jiu Ba Dao says with a smile that he simply wants to share his experiences of telling and writing stories with students on campuses. He wants to nurture his students' ability to examine various standpoints in looking at stories as well as creating their own style in telling stories. On the syllabus of movies that the students are to watch are movies by Stephen Chow and Johnny To, along with comics "The Pirate King," "The Hunter" and "The Basketball Dunker." Zhu, on the other hand, has been invited by Shih Chien's Department of Communications Design to teach "Social Apprentice." Zhu plans to let the students divide themselves into groups and select restaurants in Taipei that require a new image and publicity. "I hope that the students will learn through this experience of working as a team to get a better feel for the workplace and society. I expect to fail 10% of the students in the class. The groups whose work has little impact on the business of their restaurant or who are lazy had better be prepared for the consequences," Zhu says. Meanwhile, entertainer He Jia-wen is teaching a course on accessory design at the Department of Applied Management of the Technology and Science Institute of Northern Taiwan. She demonstrated the trendiest eye make-up for this fall during the first class. The head of the department, Lin Xin-yi, says that He has many of years of experience as a stylist in the television and film industry, and the knowledge imparted will be a big help to students. Shih Hsin University has invited singer/actor/writer Chang Yung-chih to lead a class entitled "Digital Media and an Introduction to Integrated Arts." Meanwhile, Liu Zhung-wei, who in the past hosted television shows, has been invited to teach the course "Story Telling and Creativity" at Tamkang University. The course, which had spots for 140 students, was totally filled within 20 minutes. Although a strict teacher, she allows students to take time off when they break up with their lovers. In any event, Liu is adored by the students. Model agency CatWalk's famous model Lin Xiao-pei, who goes by the nickname Yogo on stage, is teaching a course at Taipei Physical Education College's Department of Dynamic Arts. Her students include stars Gao Yi-hsiang and Lu Xue-rui.