Soochow University was established in Soochow city (now spelled Suzhou) in China’s Jiangsu Province by missionaries of the American Methodist Church in March 1900. But in 1949, after the Communist takeover of Mainland China, the school in Soochow city was forced to close down. In 1954, Soochow University was reestablished in Taiwan and the Department of Political Science was one of the first four departments which have been reinstated. It has been fifty years since then. Since 1973, the department of political science has been enlarged to enroll new students for two classes per year, but we reduced the number of classes to one temporarily 1983. In 1986, we resumed to two classes. The graduate program was established in 1991 and the Ph. D. program was set up in 1998.

Other than its rich historical background, the Department of Political Science of Soochow University is also well known for its excellence in recruiting outstanding teachers, integrating different disciplines, planning of curriculum, sourcing in research materials, the interaction among students and teachers, the concept of “Holistic Education” and the expansion of relevant teaching facilities. Our goals are to help students develop international perspective, understand political issues, master social trend, and encourage them to tackle issues regarding public interests.

We have a lot of progress in the aspects of increasing books and facilities, promoting teaching qualification and course planning owing to our successive chairs’ endeavors. They are Professor Fo-Chan Chuang, Professor Chao-Chan Wang, Professor Liang-Yan Chou, Professor Heng-Zhi Du, Professor Ren-Fu Kuo, Professor Chao-Hong Huang, Professor Mab Huang and Professor Shiow-Duan Hawang. The current chairman of the department of political science is Associate Professor Chih-Cheng Lo. The Department currently has 23 full-time faculty members including 18 Ph. D. holders. Among the 34 part-time teachers, 25 of them hold Ph. D degrees.

In 2003, in a very rigorous review held by Soochow University, the Department of Political Science was evaluated excellent among the inspectors from the Evaluation and Review Committee of academic fields. The department is also awarded with financial support to help to fund many teaching and research activities and projects with unique features. The Department has also been funded by the Ministry of Education under the Teaching Excellence Projects. With more resources available, the Department has become more outstanding and competitive.

Over the past few decades, under the leadership of its chairpersons, the Department has continued to expand not only in terms of the size of its faculty but also its academic performance. For instance, Soochow Journal of Political Science, published by the Department, has been ranked as one of the best political science journals in Taiwan. In August 2006, Dr. Chih-Cheng Lo took over as the Chairman of the department. Dr. Lo is enthusiastic in promoting various academic activities and international exchanges, holding diversified activities for the teachers and students. He also helped set up the intern program and expanded the scope of international exchange, which contributed to the establishing of the brand image of the department.

In sum, the Department of Political Science of Soochow University is a department that seeks improvement and creativity. Under the close cooperation and hard work between the students, faculty and staff, the fruit of our work has gained much admiration in recent years. It is hoped that in the future, the department can, under the current existing basis, provide stronger team of faculty, more unique features in programs and curriculum, more diversified academic activities, and more competitive and outstanding students to serve society.