The Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University is proud to recognize the following students on their achievements:
Fulbright Award-Winners
Against the Mechanical Eye: Ei-Q and his Rejection of the Photographic Image
This project examines the intersection of art and photographic media in Japan on the eve of World War II. The focus is on the artist Ei-Q, who challenged the factual and documentary techniques of the New Photography Movement that dominated experimental Japanese art in the early 1930s. Ei-Q combined photography and painting with surrealist methods and thus transformed photography into a site of creative endeavor and unconscious expression.
Living Buddha Bodies of Japan from the 8th through the 14th centuries
This project explores the transformation that takes place in the history of Buddhist relics in Japan from the Heian (794–1185) through Kamakura (1185–1333) eras. Using Buddhist studies and art historical methods, it attempts to understand relics as multifaceted objects that empowered specific religious groups via ritual practice, legend, and the mere physical presence of relics in communities as living Buddhas.
“Speculators and Profiteers:” The Entrepreneurs of Socialist China
Through analysis of private and public archives (in Shanghai and Beijing) and the collection of oral histories, this project aims to explore the hidden history of entrepreneurship in Socialist China. The research will seek to reveal the central role entrepreneurs played in the functioning of the socialist economy, thereby challenging existing conceptions of Maoist development as well as the origins of China’s post-Reform economic success.
Temple Litigation and Korea’s Long 19th Century
Gant’s project explores temple lawsuits as revealing the diversity and complexities of Buddhist life; the changing nature of litigation; and the shifting state-society relationship in 19th century Korea. Based at SNU-Kyujanggak and working with the foremost scholars of the social and institutional history of Korean Buddhism, he will delve into archives, interface with legal historians, and meet with experts across Korea.
Female Shinto Priests: Gender and Politics in Contemporary Shinto
Mirsalis investigates the role and status of women in the Shinto priesthood, focusing mainly on the postwar period (1945 to present). By studying the ways in which gender is being negotiated within the Shinto priesthood, she hopes to gain a new perspective on contemporary conversations on gender politics within Japan.
Sheldon/Kennedy (Traveling) Fellowships
The Second Republic: Colonialism, Collaboration, and the Metamorphosis of Constitutional Politics in the Manchurian Borderland, 1900–1953
The Merit/Graduate Society Term Time Research Fellowships
The Merit/Graduate Society Term Time Research Fellowships are for graduate students at the research stage who have outstanding qualifications and a significant research project. They are intended for students across all fields within GSAS.
Return to the Sword: Martial Identity and the Modern Transformation of the Japanese Police
Read more: https://gsas.harvard.edu/news/gsas-bulletin/october-2017/2017-fellowship...