Franklin R. Buchanan Prize

The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) invites submissions for the 2025 Franklin R. Buchanan Prize.

Established in 1995 by the AAS Committee on Educational Issues and Policy and the Committee on Teaching about Asia, the Franklin R. Buchanan Prize is awarded annually to recognize an outstanding pedagogical, instructional, or curriculum publication on Asia designed for K-12 and college undergraduate instructors and learners. Any format is acceptable, including print, CD, video, and online formats. Submissions that address underrepresented regions of Asia, as defined by the Association for Asian Studies, are encouraged.

The mission of the Buchanan Prize is to recognize excellence and innovation in curricular and instructional materials, especially for non-specialists teaching in K-12 and college undergraduate classrooms. To that end, the winning submission will reflect current scholarship as well as innovative pedagogical methodologies that emphasize student-centered learning and skill development. Submissions should enhance teaching beyond conventional textbooks, primary source readers, or collected or academic essays. The winning submission will contribute qualitatively to the available materials for teaching the specific content and make a significant impact on the intended audience. Submissions must have been published after January 1, 2023 and include well-articulated and detailed teaching strategies in order to be competitive.

Prize

The 2025 Buchanan Prize will be awarded to the author(s) of the work at the AAS Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio, March 13-16, 2025. The prize includes a $1,000 monetary award and a one-year membership to AAS.

Deadline

Submissions are due November 1, 2024.

For more information and a submission form, please contact the Chair of the Committee:

Kristi Roundtree
East Asia Resource Center
The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
University of Washington
302B Thomson Hall Box 353650
Seattle, WA 98195-3650
Phone: (206) 685-1389
barnesk@u.washington.edu

Books published by the Association for Asian Studies, Inc. are ineligible for consideration for prizes administered by the Association for Asian Studies. Employees of the Association are excluded from consideration for AAS book prizes, subventions, and grants. Publishers should check with authors to certify that they are not employed by the Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 

2024 Awards

Winner and Citation

Kevin Hoskins, Susannah Bechtel, and Sarah Kreckel, The Vietnam War: Origins, History, and Legacies 

The Vietnam War: Origins, History, and Legacies is based on recent scholarship in Vietnamese Studies, U.S. history, and the history of the global Cold War. It tells the “long history” of the destructive, deadly, and divisive U.S. war in Vietnam by tracing its long-term origins and assessing its long-term consequences. It looks backward toward the history of French colonialism in Southeast Asia, the evolution of the Vietnamese nationalist movement, and the First Indochina War/Anti-French Resistance War. It also looks forward from the end of the U.S. war in Vietnam to examine the experiences of Vietnamese refugees and reflect on the conflict’s effects on Vietnamese and American societies long into the future. 

Vietnamese personal stories—from the French colonial era to today—are highlighted throughout the readings and lesson plans. Students also engage with a wide array of “bottom-up” Vietnamese, American, and global primary sources from groups and individuals that have often been left out of histories of the U.S. war in Vietnam. The Vietnam War: Origins, History, and Legaciesespecially stands out from other secondary education curricula on the war with its focus on the complex and contentious historical developments within Vietnam itself. For example, students explore divisions within the early twentieth century Vietnamese nationalist movement, investigate multiple vantage points within an occupied and divided South Vietnam, and examine the experiences and memories of post-war Vietnamese, including those who fled the country as refugees. 

Honorable Mentions

Karl Debreczeny and Elena Pakhoutova, Project Himalayan Art 

De-nin Lee and Deborah Hutton, The History of Asian Art: A Global View 

Past Awards