Q&A: Roger Selya - From History to Geography and the Cello

“Development and Demographic Change in Taiwan” is the title of a new book by Roger Selya, who is a professor of geography and head of the department. It is one of several studies he has done of the country. His expertise and diversity of interests are apparent in the interview that follows.

Q:

Why were you, as a geographer, drawn to Taiwan? Did you visit and then develop interest, or did the process work in reverse?

A:

My undergraduate adviser suggested that I focus on something exotic. When I enrolled at Boston University the only really exotic courses were on China and Japan, so I focused on those. I did my A.M. in Regional Studies East Asia and decided to do a PhD in geography rather than history. When it came time to do fieldwork, Hong Kong and Taiwan were the only places an American could go. I chose Taiwan since I had studied Mandarin, which was spoken there, and I’ve been doing fieldwork there ever since.

Q:

Why the shift from history to geography?

A:

Geography offered an opportunity to use my Chinese language skills and get me into field work.

Q:

You observe in the book that economic change occurred in Taiwan under both the Japanese and the Chinese but that there were no demographic changes under Japan as opposed to China. Why is that?

A:

The Japanese kept a tight lid on. Educational opportunities were limited, as was migration. The Chinese expanded education and permitted students to go overseas for advanced training. Economic development led to a major redistribution of population and urbanization through internal migration.

Q:

Is Taiwan’s experience particularly relevant to any other part of the world today?

A:

You can argue both ways. Some feel that culturally Taiwan is so unlike poor countries in Africa and Latin America today that its experience isn’t relevant. The timing of its economic development is also important. World conditions were ideal for development changes during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Not so today. Taiwan also benefited during the Korean and Vietnam wars because it supplied raw materials to our military and served as an R&R hub. Others feel that Taiwan proves that if economic changes lead to altered perceptions and goals, then demographic, cultural, and political changes will automatically follow.

Q:

After all this time, have you exhausted Taiwan as a subject for study?

A:

No, it will remain my primary focus. My current research deals with a comparison of its 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. But I’m also working on the diffusion of Chabad, a Jewish Hasidic sect, and am involved in several projects dealing with the medical geography of Cincinnati.

Q:

What does a geographer do in his spare time?

A:

I play cello chamber music at home and orchestral music as a member of the cello section of the Cincinnati Community Orchestra. I garden, though I resent my lawn. I also read murder mysteries, preferably written by British women authors.