News

Sources, Methods, and Teaching Global History through Distilled Liquor

A talk by Professor Hyunhee Park, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate Center

This talk explores the global history of soju, Korea’s traditional distilled liquor, and argues that the Mongol Empire played a crucial role in accelerating the diffusion of distilled liquors across Eurasia. The transfer of distilled spirits to Koryŏ Korea represents one of the clearest documented cases of technological transmission, illustrating Korea’s integration into Mongol-era exchange systems and broader processes of cultural and technological exchange.

March 20, 2026, 10:40 am – 12:05 pm ET, St. John’s University, University Center Suite D, and on Teams: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/22160925119374?p=e0vcjkYe73QUl411Pa

Sponsored by the Geiss Hsu Foundation, the St. John’s University Institute for Asian Studies, and the Department of History

We’re delighted that Johan Elverskog has been awarded the 2026 Joseph Levenson Prize (China, pre-1900) for his book, A History of Uyghur Buddhism (Columbia University Press). GHF supported his fellowship at the National Humanities Center in 2021-22, during which time Dr. Elverskog completed the first draft of the manuscript.

GHF sponsored a two-part, workshop style conference on border-crossing in the Ming, which took place at Academia Sinica and Columbia University in 2023. A resulting publication is now available as a special issue from the journal Asia Minor: https://www1.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/en/Publications/AsiaMajor/Preprint

Do you have a Ming-related or adjacent project or publication in the works? Apply for our next round of funding!

GHF has previously supported:

• Scholarships and travel grants for academic courses and events
• Print and/or open-access books and translations
• K-12 programs and teacher development
• Digital and crowdsourced research tools 
• Museum exhibitions and public programs
• Scholarly workshops and conferences
• Musical performances
• And more!

We consider applications for projects that confirm our mission and meet our guidelines. Questions? Contact info@geissfoundation.us.

Submit your application by March 1, 2026.

Image: Participants at a GHF-funded workshop on the history and landscape culture of West Lake at the University of Granada.

Workshop: The World of Ming Workers
July 20-25, 2026 University of Warwick, UK 

Sponsors: The University of Warwick, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the Tindall Trust, the James P. Geiss & Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation 

The James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation has awarded the Association for Asian Studies $20,000 to fund participation for Ming Studies scholars at the AAS 2026 Annual Conference in Vancouver, Canada.

The James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private, not-for-profit foundation which encourages and sponsors scholarly research and interpretation of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) in China. The Geiss Hsu Foundation supports studies of the predecessors and successors of the Ming, as well as contemporaries in geographic areas with which the Ming interacted.

The Geiss Hsu Annual Conference Travel Grant will award up to $2,000 each in travel support to scholars specializing in studies of Ming China, as well as scholars who engage in research related to the Ming. Applicants do not need to be a part of an organized session to receive the grant, nor do they need to be current AAS members.

Scholars of diverse rank and affiliation may apply for the grant, but preference will be given to contingent or part-time faculty, students, and independent scholars. The grant will cover expenses such as conference registration, airfare, and hotel. Recipients must be traveling to Vancouver from a distance of 100 miles or more to qualify.

Applicants should prepare the following information prior to filling in the online application form:

• Their AAS account number, even if they do not hold current membership. Applicants can register for a free account, or look up their account number, at the AAS online portal.
• The applicant’s plan for AAS conference participation (350 words maximum). This should include details of session presentation (if applicable), including title and focus, and a proposed plan for networking and engagement in conference activities.
• Explanation of the applicant’s current research and its connection to Ming Studies.
• A short statement of need (350 words maximum).
• CV (2-page maximum, in PDF format)

Please submit all materials by December 18, 2025 via the online application form to receive consideration. Awards will be announced in January 2026. Those who receive a travel grant award must submit a report after the AAS Annual Conference detailing their activities and how the travel grant enabled their participation in the conference. This report will be due within 30 days of conference conclusion.

The Board of Directors of the James P. Geiss & Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation is delighted to announce six awards supporting projects that advance the field of Ming studies:

CONFERENCES

The Great Entanglement:  Reframing East Eurasian Histories in the Longue Durée  | Shoufu Yin, University of British Columbia, and Mara Yue Du, Cornell University | March 11–12 , 2026

This interdisciplinary conference on the intertwined histories of Inner and East Asia will place a particular focus on the entanglements between the Ming and its Mongol and Manchu neighbors. Scholars from around the world will gather at the University of British Columbia to present on four thematic panels and at a concluding forum about the future of the field. Resulting papers will be published in a special magazine issue and in an edited volume.

Technologies of Scholarship, Ming and Beyond | Southeast U.S. Scholars and Friends of Late Imperial China (SEUSS-FLIC) | January 2026 

This daylong event focusing on scholarship and teaching of the Ming will be held in conjunction with the Southeast Conference of the Association of Asian Studies (SEC-AAS) Annual Meeting at Georgia Tech. Twenty scholars will meet in person at daytime sessions, while a smaller group based in Asia will join a virtual evening panel. It aims to help scholars forge new connections and broaden awareness of Chinese culture and Ming studies throughout the Southeastern United States.

OPEN ACCESS PUBLISHING

More UWP / GHF Open Access Books: Two Story Collections | University of Washington Press | March 2026

Since 2021, GHF has supported an open access collection of books published by the University of Washington Press on the Ming dynasty and adjacent periods and territories. This award will allow the Press to add two of their most significant and most often used books in Ming studies to the collection, bringing these resources to a larger audience, facilitating their use in courses, and fostering new avenues for scholarly research.

TRAVEL SUPPORT

Geiss Hsu Annual Conference Travel Grant | Association for Asian Studies, Inc. (AAS) | March 2026

The AAS Annual Conference draws 3,000 participants who network with scholars from all over the world and participate in interdisciplinary dialogues. GHF will fund travel to the March 2026 conference in Vancouver, B.C. for up to twelve scholars specializing in Ming and Ming-adjacent research. The grant is open to graduate students, contingent and part-time faculty, tenure-track faculty, and independent scholars, regardless of membership or participation in a session. 

Ming Studies Conference Travel Grant | Society for Ming Studies | March 2026

GHF will support travel for eight to ten PhD students participating in “Ming Studies in Five” at the Society for Ming Studies’ Annual Meeting, which takes place during the AAS Annual Conference in Vancouver, B.C. Students will present a five-minute talk on their current research and engage with audience members during a poster and social session to gain public-facing presentation experience and increase their professional visibility.

WORKSHOPS

Workshops on Materiality of Ming Books & Manuscripts for Librarians | The Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library and Library Special Collections, part of the Distinctive Collections Division at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Library | November 2025 – October 2026

An award from the Geiss Hsu Foundation will support a series of online and in-person workshops on the materialities of Ming books and manuscripts for fourteen East Asian studies librarians specializing in Chinese studies in North America. Participants will acquire knowledge and skills to move beyond traditional “one-shot” bibliographic instruction toward a new model of teaching that integrates material analysis into undergraduate and graduate curricula.