November 2018 AAS Member News & Notes

Congratulations to the two AAS Members recognized by the American Historical Association with book prizes for their work. Tom Mullaney (Stanford University) has received the John K. Fairbank Prize for East Asian history since 1800 for The Chinese Typewriter: A History (MIT Press). Faiz Ahmed (Brown University) has been awarded the John F. Richards Prize for South Asian history for his Harvard University Press book, Afghanistan Rising: Islamic Law and Statecraft between the Ottoman and British Empires.

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The Hamako Ito Chaplin Memorial Award will again be conferred in 2019, administered through the Association for Asian Studies. In accordance with the wishes of the Chaplin family, each year a prize of $1000 will be awarded to either a current graduate student or a full-time instructor of Japanese for excellence in Japanese language teaching at the college level. A full-time instructor who has completed graduate study within the last 3 years in an area that directly involves Japanese language teaching is eligible to apply. Possible academic fields of specialization are Japanese language pedagogy, linguistics, anthropology, or literature. Current graduate students must demonstrate their intention to enter the teaching field in a North American university. Professor Priya Ananth (Middle Tennessee State University) serves as Chair of the Selection Committee, Professor Sarah Thal (University of Wisconsin) serves as representative of the Northeast Asia Council of AAS for the committee, and Professor George Chaplin serves ex-officio.

Individuals interested in applying (self-nomination) and faculty members interested in nominating an eligible graduate student or instructor (nomination)—should download an application form. You may also request the application form via email by contacting Dr. Priya Ananth (Priya.Ananth@mtsu.edu). 

Completed applications must be received by February 1, 2019 at the following address: Dr. Priya Ananth, Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, MTSU P.O. Box 79, 1301 East Main Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA.

Persons interested in contributing to the award fund should send their contributions to: The Hamako Ito Chaplin Memorial Award, c/o Association for Asian Studies, 825 Victors Way, Suite 310, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108. 

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Education About Asia is currently accepting manuscripts for its spring 2019 issue, which will include a special thematic section on “Schools in Asia.” Check out the author guidelines for information about submitting an article to EAA; the deadline for submission is November 30.

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Registration and housing for #AAS2019 in Denver, Colorado are now open. After a successful introduction of GREEN registration rates in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, we are pleased to offer them again in Denver. Those who GO GREEN will save $10 on their conference registration; they will NOT receive a copy of the print program.

Panel participants: remember to register by the November 8 deadline to ensure your inclusion in the print program!

Congratulations to the winners of our graduate student registration lottery:

Rebecca Bloom, University of Michigan

Yifeng Cai, Brown University

Christopher Diamond, University of Washington

Stefano Gandolfo, University of Oxford

Adrienne Lagman, University of Michigan

Kelly Midori McCormick, UCLA

Jens Reinke, Leipzig University

Will Shattuck, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jeffrey Weng, University of California, Berkeley

Dongshan Zhang, University of Chicago

The preliminary conference program is now available to view. The full program will be posted in December.

We are pleased to offer financial support—a maximum of $250 per family—on a reimbursement basis to panel participants in need of professional childcare services during the conference in Denver. Funds are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, so please contact the AAS as soon as possible to express your interest in this program. More information and contact information is available at the conference website.

Deceased Asianists

Satadru Sen (1969-2018), professor of South Asian history at the City University of New York. Obituary via Poughkeepsie Journal.

In Memoriam

Sharon Minichiello, Ph.D. (1939–2018)  passed away at her home in Honolulu, Hawaii at age 79. Born in Lynn on June 24, 1939 and raised in Saugus, Massachusetts, she was the eldest of four daughters of the late Philip and Margaret Minichiello. Dr. Minichiello was a longtime resident of Hawaii, where she was a retired professor of Japanese History and former director of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa Center for Japanese Studies.

Dr. Minichiello was a renowned and much admired scholar and professor. She was the author of several books on Japanese modernity and the recipient of numerous awards honoring her work as a teacher and her efforts toward fostering better understanding between the United States and Japan. These include: the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship, the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation Distinguished Service Award, the University of Hawaii Board of Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching, and the UH Mānoa Ohana Award for Outstanding Service to Students, among others.

Dr. Minichiello leaves her much-loved sisters, Maureen Villiotte and her husband Dr. James Villiotte, Margaret Williamson, and Jane Gammon, 13 nieces and nephews, 21 great-nieces and nephews, three loving aunts and many dear cousins. She will be greatly missed by her family, friends, colleagues, and former students.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hawaiian Humane Society, 2700 Waialae Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii 96826, www.hawaiianhumane.org.

—Submitted by Gay Satsuma on behalf of the Minichiello family

We welcome submissions for the AAS Member News & Notes column, so please forward material for consideration to mcunningham@asian-studies.org. Please note that we do not publish book announcements in this space; new books by AAS Members will be announced on the association’s Twitter feed (@AASAsianStudies) and Facebook page (@AASAsianStudies).