The International Master's Program in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies integrates the teaching resources of the University System of Taiwan's cultural studies teams and is founded on five major interdisciplinary curriculum clusters: (1) Critical Theory and Asian Modernity, (2) Contemporary Thought and Social Movements, (3) Sexuality/Gender Studies, (4) Visual Culture, and (5) Media and Cultural Governance. Through shared themes, these clusters combine research expertise from different fields such as Chinese literature, Taiwanese literature, foreign languages, history, philosophy, sociology, and the arts to offer a systematic and collaborative curriculum.

I. "Critical Theory and Asian Modernity" Cluster

Lead Unit: Department of Humanities and Social Sciences & Institute of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (Chiao Tung Campus)

Cluster Features: This cluster is led by the research team from the Institute of Social Research and Cultural Studies at National Chiao Tung University. The team has long pursued integrated research projects on "Critical Theory and Asian Modernity" under the theme of "Politics, Aesthetics, and Ethics." Through theoretical inquiry, it examines the different historical contexts and institutional structures within the process of modernity, re-investigating the relationship between the construction of knowledge about modernity in Asia (Northeast and Southeast Asia) and the formation of the nation-state.

II. "Contemporary Thought and Social Movements" Cluster

Lead Unit: Institute of History, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Tsing Hua University

Cluster Features: Led by the research team from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at National Tsing Hua University, this cluster focuses on Inter-Asian cultural resources, historical experiences, and social realities within the context of contemporary thought trends—including multiculturalism, democracy, local autonomy, globalization, and green living. Through the concrete practice of social movements, it seeks to clarify and advance the multi-layered dialectical relationship between "the ideal" and "the real."

III. "Gender/Sexuality Studies" Cluster

Lead Unit: Department of English, National Central University

Cluster Features: Planned and led by the renowned Gender/Sexuality Studies team at National Central University, this cluster's highlights include: Inter-Asia/Sex/Gender, Colonialism/Multiple Modernities, and Post/Cold War Decolonial Critique and Practice. Our research on Inter-Asian sexuality/gender focuses on the dynamic processes among various social differences—including class, race, age, gender, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, and religion—and how these differential powers intersect within ever-changing contexts. Our program has always been committed to forging a different path, rather than centering on the regional theorization and knowledge production supported by Anglophone hegemony and its moral progressivism. Accordingly, we pay special attention to the various forms of sexuality/gender in the post/Cold War Asian context, as well as their generative conditions and their historical co-constitution and ruptures with empire, colonialism, and modernity.

IV. "Visual Culture" Cluster

Lead Unit: Institute of Visual Culture, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (Yang Ming Campus)

Cluster Features: This cluster is jointly promoted by the Center for Film Studies at National Chiao Tung University, the Center for Visual Culture at National Central University, and the Visual Culture research team at National Yang Ming University. As an important integrated research field within cultural studies, this cluster combines the methodologies and practices of art history and film studies. It incorporates related fields from an interdisciplinary perspective, such as critical theory, gender/sexuality studies, globalization studies, postcolonial studies, new media studies, and historical studies. From the viewpoint of cultural exchange and globalization, it places Taiwan-Northeast Asia-Asia within a global international context to explore the formal aesthetics, historical significance, and social practices of visual culture.

V. "Media & Cultural Governance" Cluster

Lead Unit: College of Communication, National Chengchi University

Cluster Features: This cluster is built upon a transnational, inter-university, inter-collegiate, and interdisciplinary foundation in its faculty and curriculum design. Its core philosophy is derived from the concept of "Media and Cultural Governance" advocated by the European Union, which integrates cultural policy and cultural economy. Its goals are to establish cultural diversity, promote cultural policy, foster cultural creativity, and effectively utilize cultural intellectual property. The cluster's focus is broadened and enriched by the infusion of unique features, faculty, and courses from different colleges at National Chengchi University—such as the various language and culture courses from the College of Foreign Languages, literature and history courses from the College of Liberal Arts, political economy and ethnic issue courses from the College of Social Sciences, and international communication and popular culture courses from the College of Communication. This allows the "Media & Cultural Governance" cluster to define its four main themes as: Historical Memory, Visual Arts, Regional Integration, and International Communication.