Historically, art education in Taiwan has focused almost exclusively on technical training in the arts. This has resulted in a conspicuous domestic shortage of art critics, historians, and aestheticians capable of comprehending the complexity of the creative art and of probing, in depth or breadth, the significance of arts studies and of the relationship between the arts and their enabling environments, much less of realizing the national goal of strengthening and popularizing art education in Taiwan.

The NCU Masters Program in Art Studies was established in August 1993 precisely to redress this historical deficiency. Its primary goal is to cultivate specialists in art history, theory, and research who will, on the one hand, enhance the quality of academic inquiry in the arts, stimulate the vitality of contemporary artistic movements, and strengthen relations between those working in different artistic fields and, on the other hand, keep abreast of international developments and trends in art studies and research so as to lay the foundation for an integrated and comprehensive education in the arts and humanities.

(1) To establish a certification program for art studies in order to fill the need for more highly trained art critics, theorists, and historians. This undergraduate program will also serve as a preparation for more capable graduate students and, by extension, raise the level of professionalism throughout the field.

(2) To establish strengths in Sino-Western comparative studies and the collation of contemporary Chinese art resources by emphasizing research in cultural trends in the arts, beginning with the study of modern Chinese and Western art history, followed by the practical inculcation of art analysis and critical methods.

(3) To explore the interrelationship between the arts and human society and collate materials from abroad on the sociology of the arts in the interest of gradually establishing a materials center for the study of domestic and foreign modern art.

(4) To establish joint research projects, coordinate academic exchanges, and share research findings with university art studies programs in Europe and the Americas in order to enrich the educational content and resources of art studies programs in Taiwan and to construct channels for international cultural exchange.