Bio
Ph.D., Columbia University; MSW, Columbia University, BSW, National Taiwan University. Shu jung Li is a professor at the Department of Social Work, Soochow University, Taipei, Taiwan. Her research focuses on poverty and inequality, labor policies (particularly in the context of globalization), and comparative social policies in East Asian countries.
Dr. Li has many publications in English and in Chinese; notable among them is "New Poverty in the Era of Globalization – the Case in Taiwan" published by the Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development. Her recent projects include “The Return to the Job Market of the Economically Disadvantaged” (2017), ”A Survey of the Living Conditions of the Homeless in Taipei City” (2016), “A Follow-up Study on the Poverty Dynamics of Newly Poor Families” (2015), “Research on Social Welfare Provision in Taiwan” (2014), “Employment Promotion Policies for the Economically Disadvantaged” (2013).
Dr. Li has a long history of lecturing, both at professional conferences such as IFSW, APPAM and EASP, and by invitation at international institutions: among these are Hong Kong University, Fudan University, China, the National University of Singapore, and Kansai University, Japan. In an effort to pursue international exchanges, she also offered several courses in English, with students coming from European and Asian countries. Her most recent teaching endeavor was applying the innovative COIL (cooperative online international learning) teaching model, in which she collaborated with faculty at Kansai University in Japan to facilitate cross-border cooperation and learning between her students and Kansai University students, through online communication tools.
Dr. Li has often served as a committee member for various governmental agencies and NGOs in Taiwan, including the Social Welfare Promotion Committee of the Executive Yuan, which is the decision-making committee for central governmental social policies, the Committee for the Disable within the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Public Welfare Lottery Committee, the Ministry of Finance, and the Committee of Taiwan United Way.
This is Professor Li’s second visit to Columbia, following her last visit in 2007. Her time and work here is being sponsored by the prestigious Himalaya Foundation. She will be conducting a research project entitled ”Poverty Reduction Effectiveness of Social Assistance Policies: A Comparative Study of East Asian Countries.” during her stay at Columbia.