Only months after receiving the Kahin Prize for his recent book (see announcement here), Emeritus Professor Thongchai Winichakul was once again honored. He has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious Grand Prize for 2023 by the Fukuoka Prize committee. For over 30 years this Japan-based organization has carefully selected and honored prize winners from across the world. They describe their objectives on their website this way:
“We, the organizers, together with the citizens of Fukuoka, honor the individuals who have made contributions to the fields of Asian studies, Asian art and Asian culture. We are determined to spread the value of Asia’s unique and varied cultures to the world from our city’s point of view.”
In their opening description of Prof. Thongchai’s contributions, the Fukuoka Prize committee wrote that he “is a historian who has had a significant influence on humanities and social sciences on a global level by raising the question on how the modern notion of nations and national citizenship creeped into people’s hearts and took root from an Asian perspective…,” concluding that he “has made sincere efforts to use the results of his research and the insights gained to promote social reform…”
Once again, we congratulate Thongchai and encourage him to continue his pursuit of scholarship and his contributions to help us to better understand the world we have received from the past and to devise ways to make improvements.
Read the full article here.