American Council of Learned Societies Names 2023 Luce/ACLS Early Career Fellows in China Studies

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce the 2023 Luce/ACLS Early Career Fellowships in China Studies, recognizing 15 exceptional pre-tenure scholars at institutions in the US, Canada, and Europe. The Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies is made possible by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The 2023 Early Career Fellowships support emerging scholars whose research centers on China’s societies, histories, cultures, environment, art, and global impact. This year’s awards total $525,000, including 10 long-term fellowships, which allow recent PhDs to take leave from university responsibilities for research and writing, and five flexible fellowships, which enable emerging scholars with heavy teaching and service responsibilities to carry out and advance their projects.

Learn more about the 2023 Luce/ACLS Early Career Fellows in China Studies and their projects.

“The Luce/ACLS Early Career Fellowships in China Studies provide critical support for the next generation of scholars who are deepening our understanding of China’s diverse cultural and political past and present,” said ACLS President Joy Connolly. “Through our fruitful partnership with the Luce Foundation, ACLS is proud to help foster a community of interdisciplinary scholars who are making vital contributions to China studies. The new fellows’ exciting research explores topics such as the environmental history of modern China from the perspective of coastal communities, the relationship between artistic eccentricity and disability art in eighteenth century Yangzhou, and the impact of China’s long-standing medical programs in South Sudan. At a time when tense relations between China and the United States dominate the headlines, we believe that scholarship, which helps bring people together by freely sharing knowledge, is more important than ever.”

The 2023 fellows will be invited to join a diverse group of scholars, fellows, and practitioners at a summer retreat in New York to share their research and discuss the future of the program and the field.

In 2021, ACLS embarked on a three-year bridging initiative with the Luce Foundation to reassess and reconfigure the Program in China Studies. As part of this initiative, ACLS published the China Studies in America report and continues to convene scholars at all ranks, higher education leaders, journalists, and others to re-imagine and transform the program to meet the needs of China studies in the 21st century.