Adrift

A human library · NTHU, Hsinchu · 2023

Student sharers from

In a human library, people are the books: visitors sit with the sharers and hear their stories in person. I proposed Adrift when applying to NTHU’s Global Program, a residential college where Taiwanese and international students live and develop projects together. I wanted to create an opportunity for people to understand one another’s backgrounds.

Working with my co-organiser, I planned the event, booked the venue, found speakers, invited participants, and organised the timetable and sessions. A week-long poster exhibition accompanied two days of conversations, drawing more than a hundred participants.

The theme was self-identity. Across four sessions, the student sharers discussed how they would describe their home and what they hoped it would keep or change. A student forum also gave us space to discuss these questions together.

I took part as a sharer as well. I especially valued the opportunity to share my own perspective in a session attended by the university president. Organising Adrift gave me a chance both to bring people together and to join the conversations myself.

Our connections might be cultural, historical, or linguistic, and sometimes emerge where we least expect them. Adrift grew from my wish to make room for those encounters and for the different experiences people bring to a shared place.