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NCKU's "The Healing Café" Showcases Performing Arts and Digital Humanities Integration
After a joint performance in Kaohsiung's Ba̍k-sa Community, the National Cheng Kung University Institute of Arts Studies & MA Program in Drama's "PERFORMING ARTS AND ADMINISTRATION" course returned to campus for a showcase. On the morning of June 13, at the Phoenix Theater on Kuang-Fu Campus, the course presented a performance titled "The Healing Café: Transmutations of the Mind." The event featured AI-generated music videos, stage effects, and AI digital picture books. Attendees were invited to co-create a musical piece, experiencing the healing power of empathetic art, showcasing the students' exploration of combining performing arts with digital humanities.
NCKU's Vice Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Chia-Huang Chen, represented Dean Shih-Mei Kao at the showcase. He noted that the event, part of the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Sprout Project and the second phase of the Digital Humanities Project, successfully integrated performing arts with AI technology and cultural aspects, making theoretical art tangible. This pioneering effort is expected to continue expanding interdisciplinary teaching and research in literature, history, and arts.
Dr. Tsung-Sheng Cheng, Director of Science Education at the National Space Organization (TASA), praised the students’ diverse attempts to integrate AI technology, from drone footage to AI-generated ideas, which enhanced understanding of the James Laidlaw Maxwell cultural journey.
"The Healing Café" was inspired by students’ visits to the M&T Trail. The script depicts a mountain café as a rest spot for travelers and a place where locals share life stories. The performers included students Wan-Ling Wu, Jin-Yu Liao, Wen-Wen Chi, Yuan Cheng-Yang, Tsai Wei-Huan, Chen Hao-Kai, Feng Shu-Hsuan, Yi-Jie Ting, Kuo-Lun Huang, Jing-Han Huang, and Si-Yu Lu, among others. They meticulously organized the performance from entrance guidance to stage presentation, showcasing the process of creating a performance from scratch.
Associate Professor Wei-Chien Ma of the Institute of Arts Studies remarked that the event included drama, exhibitions, hand-drawn works, and video creations, all inspired by Dr. James Laidlaw Maxwell’s missionary work in Taiwan 150 years ago. The drama, "The Healing Café," tells a heartwarming story in a café through the perspective of a backpacker searching for family, encouraging the audience to rethink modern social responsibilities.
NCKU's Vice Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Chia-Huang Chen, represented Dean Shih-Mei Kao at the showcase. He noted that the event, part of the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Sprout Project and the second phase of the Digital Humanities Project, successfully integrated performing arts with AI technology and cultural aspects, making theoretical art tangible. This pioneering effort is expected to continue expanding interdisciplinary teaching and research in literature, history, and arts.
Dr. Tsung-Sheng Cheng, Director of Science Education at the National Space Organization (TASA), praised the students’ diverse attempts to integrate AI technology, from drone footage to AI-generated ideas, which enhanced understanding of the James Laidlaw Maxwell cultural journey.
"The Healing Café" was inspired by students’ visits to the M&T Trail. The script depicts a mountain café as a rest spot for travelers and a place where locals share life stories. The performers included students Wan-Ling Wu, Jin-Yu Liao, Wen-Wen Chi, Yuan Cheng-Yang, Tsai Wei-Huan, Chen Hao-Kai, Feng Shu-Hsuan, Yi-Jie Ting, Kuo-Lun Huang, Jing-Han Huang, and Si-Yu Lu, among others. They meticulously organized the performance from entrance guidance to stage presentation, showcasing the process of creating a performance from scratch.
Associate Professor Wei-Chien Ma of the Institute of Arts Studies remarked that the event included drama, exhibitions, hand-drawn works, and video creations, all inspired by Dr. James Laidlaw Maxwell’s missionary work in Taiwan 150 years ago. The drama, "The Healing Café," tells a heartwarming story in a café through the perspective of a backpacker searching for family, encouraging the audience to rethink modern social responsibilities.
After a joint performance in Kaohsiung's Ba̍k-sa Community, the "PERFORMING ARTS AND ADMINISTRATION" course of the National Cheng Kung University Institute of Arts Studies & MA Program in Drama returned to campus to showcase their exploration of integrating performing arts with digital humanities.
The showcase featured a variety of works, including AI-generated music videos, stage effects, AI digital picture books, and posters.
