The Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs offers three prizes for papers written by students – the Percy Buchanan Graduate Prize for graduate students, and the Sidney DeVere Brown Prize and the Mikiso Hane Prize for undergraduate students. MCAA also offers the Jackson and Caroline Bailey Public Service Award for outstanding work in the advancement of Asian Studies. These prizes are awarded at the MCAA Annual Meeting held each fall.
The 2023 awardees will be recognized at the MCAA Banquet on Saturday, September 30, 2023, 6:30-8:30 pm. The prize coordinator for 2023 is MCAA Vice President Michel Hockx.
Percy Buchanan Graduate Prize
Four Percy Buchanan prizes of $100 each, plus travel expenses of up to $100, will be awarded for the best original graduate student research papers. Papers should be no longer than 35 pages double spaced including the bibliography. Students will have an opportunity to present winning papers at the conference. There is one prize for each of the four main AAS regions: China and Inner Asia, Northeast Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Graduate paper prize winners will receive a one-year complimentary membership in the Association for Asian Studies, and one of the winners will be nominated to present at the AAS annual conference (usually taking place in late March of that academic year) on the Council of Conferences designated panel.
2023 Awardees
Percy Buchanan Graduate Prize in China & Inner Asia
Elvin Meng, University of Chicago
“Babbling in Early Modern China” (Session 4, P28)
Percy Buchanan Graduate Prize in Northeast Asia
Anna M. Woźny, University of Michigan
“Modalities of Cultural Guidance: Market Intermediaries, Cultural Fluency, and Valuation in Japanese ‘Marriage-Hunting’”
Percy Buchanan Graduate Prize in South Asia
Pavithra Rajendran, University of Notre Dame
“Unveiling the Veil of Injustice: Human Rights Infringements in the Name of ‘Culture’: A Sri Lankan Centred Analysis” (Session 9, P64)
Percy Buchanan Graduate Prize in Southeast Asia
Amrina Rosyada, Northwestern University
“Who Made Margaret Mead? The Native Research Assistant as Intellectual” (Session 9, P64)
Sidney DeVere Brown Prize and the Mikiso Hane Prize
The Sidney DeVere Brown Prize, and the Mikiso Hane Prize are awarded to the two best original papers composed by undergraduates. Prizes of $100, plus travel expenses of up to $100, are awarded to the authors of the winning papers. Paper submissions should be between 10 and 30 pages double spaced and must be accompanied by a letter from the student’s professor or advisor confirming that the paper was written while the author was an undergraduate. Papers will be reviewed by scholars in the appropriate field. Undergraduate winners have the opportunity to publish their papers in The Wittenberg East Asian Studies Journal.
2023 Awardees
Mikiso Hane Prize
Patrick Peralta, University of Michigan
“Dictatorship of the Vengeful: The Rise of Civic Authoritarianism in Rodrigo Duterte’s Philippines” (Session 4, P27)
Sidney Devere Brown Prize
Shao-Chi Ou, University of Michigan
“Visual Experiences and Visualization in Literary and Filmic Narratives through a Three Kingdoms Lens” (Session 7, P52)
Jackson and Caroline Bailey Public Service Award
This award commemorates the lifetime exemplary service to MCAA by Professors Jackson Bailey and Caroline Bailey. It recognizes and honors those members of MCAA who have assiduously contributed to outreach, extra-curricular instruction, and public service in their communities. Successful nominees should have made efforts beyond the normal and expected contributions of scholarship and teaching in order to bring Asian Studies to the community at large. Such activities might include: the creation of teaching materials to be used by K-12 teachers; production of Asian-centered audio-visual materials; work with sister city and/or citizen to citizen activities aimed at intercultural exchanges; working for student or faculty exchanges with Asian Universities; arranging Asian film series, community lectures, book clubs, children’s story hours, museum exhibitions, and public discussions. In short, this award for lifetime achievement honors those who have devoted time and treasure to public service outside the academy.
2023 Awardee
Jackson and Caroline Bailey Public Service Award
Rebecca Copeland, Professor of Japanese Language and Literature/Head of the Japanese Section
Washington University in St. Louis