Qualifications 

PhD Sociology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan (2010)
MSc Sociology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan (2003) 
BA Sociology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan (2000)


Research Interests

• Social Theory and Methodology
• Legal Sociology 
• Cultural Sociology 
• Citizenship Studies
• Medical Sociology and Medical Education

My academic interest lies in revisiting the concept of citizenship, which is an interdisciplinary area overlapping with normative and empirical studies, in terms of social theory. Over the past years, I started with Max Weber’s theoretical viewpoint to analyze the evolution of citizenship in Chinese context during the late Qing dynasty and the early Republican period. More recently, I have tried to include the rethinking of professionalism within this, especially referring to the medical and legal professions, taking this into consideration in order to probe the ‘elective affinity’ between the ethics of professionalism and the spirit of citizenship during the formative period of modern society. 

As for the conduction and participation of research projects, I have mainly engaged in two different developments. One is about Weberian theory, modern China, and citizenship studies, in which I engage in the sub-fields of legal sociology, cultural sociology, and sociology of occupation and profession. The other is about the education and regulation of modern professionals. For now this project merely is based on some issues in medical education and legal reform, where I collaborate actively with medical and legal practitioners This second project will undergo deeper analysis in the coming years.   


Key Publications 

Chiou, Ruei-Jen, Po-Fang Tsai and Der-Yan Han. (2021) Impacts of a gross anatomy laboratory course on medical students’ emotional reactions in Taiwan--the role of high-level emotions. BMC Medical Education 21:489. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02923-1 (SSCI)

Tsai, Po-Fang. (2020) Between Translations and Monographs: an Exploratory Analysis of Secondary Literature on Max Weber-Reception in the Chinese Context. Max Weber Studies 20(1): 57-81.

Tsai, Po-Fang. (2019) “Citizenship, Professionalism, and Modernity: Historical Experience and Theoretical Genealogy” pp. 225-264 (ch5). in Tang Chih-Chieh ed. Modernity in Reciprocal Comparison: A Taiwanese Perspective. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press. (in Chinese)

Tang, Kung-Pei, Chien-Yu Chen, Ming-Shun Wu, Tzu-Tao Chen, Bei-Wen Wu, and Po-Fang Tsai*. (2019) "Correlation between early clinical exposure environment, attitudes toward basic medicine, and medical students’ basic science learning performance." BMC Medical Education 19(1):183.  doi: 10.1186/s12909-019-1612-0（SSCI）

Tsai, Po-Fang. (2017) Cross-Referencing Friedrich Kittler and Niklas Luhmann: An Exchange from the Viewpoint of Social Theory. Journal of Communication Research and Practice, 7(2), pp. 93-122. (in Chinese) （TSSCI）

Tsai, Po-Fang. (2016) The Introduction and Reception of Max Weber's Sociology in China and Taiwan. Journal of Sociology 52(1): 118–133. （SSCI）

Tsai, Po-Fang. (2014) The Theoretical Ambition of the Sociology of Citizenship: Integrating the Normative-Empirical Research. SOCIETAS: A Journal for Philosophical Study of Public Affairs No. 51, pp. 43-91. (in Chinese) （TSSCI）


Courses 

1. General Sociology (undergraduate)
2. Medical Sociology (undergraduate)
3. Research Design and Methodology (graduate)
4. Social Medicine (undergraduate and graduate)
5. Humanity, Society & Medicine Education (graduate)

Past & Current Supervisees
Wu Bei-Wen
Chen Hui-Ya 
Lee Shiny-Yi 
Liao Fang-I