Past Awards

Funding from GHF will earmark Friends of the Princeton University Library Grants for Ming scholars. During this three-year pilot program, a selection committee will award up to three Ming-focused grants to scholars who wish to conduct research at the Princeton University Library’s Special Collections, including the in the East Asian Library (Gest Collection). These grants, which have a value of up to $6,000 plus transportation costs, are meant to help defray expenses incurred in traveling to and residing in Princeton during the tenure of the grant. 

Funding supported membership dues, conference travel, lodging, and registration for at least five scholars of Ming or Ming-adjacent fields to attend the Modern Language Association of American Conference in Philadelphia from January 4-7, 2024. Preference was given to graduate students, contingent faculty, independent scholars, faculty at poorly resourced institutions, and international scholars.

To support emerging scholars, the Society for Ming Studies hosted a roundtable on new books by international Ming scholars at the Society’s meeting-in-conjunction at the Association for Asian Studies Conference in Seattle. Funding from GHF allowed three junior scholars who are based at institutions outside of North America and have recently released books with non-US publishers to travel to the conference to participate in the roundtable.

The Association for Asian Studies offered grants of up to $2,000 for scholars of the Ming dynasty and Ming-adjacent peoples to attend, either virtually or in person, the Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference in Boston. Preference was given to contingent and part-time faculty, students, and independent scholars.

Nine graduate students gave ten-minute presentations on their research at the Society for Ming Studies’ Annual Meeting, highlighting their primary arguments, key sources, and the ways in which their research connects to the Ming. The initiative aimed to encourage Ming research and engagement at the junior scholar level, and bring to the fore questions, research materials, and methodologies that productively challenge and enlarge the study of Ming China.

GHF made an award to the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) to support travel to the 2022 annual conference in Honolulu, Hawaii for as many as 15 scholars specializing in Ming studies and Ming-adjacent research. The goal of the travel grants was to encourage greater participation in the annual conference by scholars specializing in early modern China, who have been underrepresented at recent conferences. Priority was given to contingent or part-time faculty, students, and independent scholars.

As part of their outreach to junior scholars, the Society for Ming Studies invited nine promising graduate students to present their research at their Annual Meeting, held at the Association for Asian Studies Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii in March 2022. Geiss Hsu Foundation funds covered the travel and lodging costs for participating students. By actively inviting the next generation to participate in the meeting, the Society for Ming Studies hopes to grow their community and extend their impact within the field of Asian Studies.

As part of their new outreach to junior scholars, the Society for Ming Studies invited nine promising Ph.D. candidates, fellows, and visiting professors to present their research at the Society for Ming Studies Annual Meeting at the Association for Asian Studies Conference in Denver, Colorado. The Geiss Hsu Foundation helped supplement the travel costs for the March 2019 meeting. The goal of the session was to grow the community of Ming scholars by helping junior researchers cement new connections.