The Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies (IDAAS) invites submissions for the following two senior prizes:

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Due Friday, April 26, 2019 by noon. (Deadline is firm.)

1) THE PETER KIANG SENIOR THESIS PAPER PRIZE (Full details at end)
The Peter Kiang Thesis Prize was established to recognize academic excellence in Asian American Studies and/or on a subject related to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The senior thesis paper may fall within any discipline; however it must incorporate concepts central to the field of Asian American Studies. Entrants must present their paper at the Asian American senior presentations. The winner will be announced at the senior presentations.

• Submit a paper copy to IDAAS office, 1st floor Lincoln Building
• Submit an electronic copy to michael.pedro@pomona.edu
• Submit a student summary addressing the following points:
  1. Name, home college, major(s), minor(s), email, phone number
  2. Name of supervising faculty member(s)
  3. A half-page, single spaced abstract
  4. Entrants must present their paper at the senior presentations Wed. May 4, 2016, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m., Aviation Room, Harvey Mudd College.

2) THE MERLE WOO SENIOR THESIS PROJECT PRIZE (Full details at end)
The Merle Woo Project Prize was established to recognize academic excellence in Asian American Studies and/or on a subject related to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The senior project may be creative or community-based. The project may fall within any discipline; however it must incorporate concepts central to the field of Asian American Studies.  Examples include a short film, an anthology of poetry, a grant proposal, or a curriculum for a youth empowerment organization. Entrants must present their project at the senior presentations.

• Submit a paper copy to IDAAS office, 1st floor Lincoln Building
• Submit an electronic copy to michael.pedro@pomona.edu
• Submit a student summary addressing the following points:
  1. Name, home college, major(s), minor(s), email, phone number
  2. Name of supervising faculty member(s)
  3. A half-page, single spaced summary describing the project conceptualization/goal, rationale, methodology, and evaluation.
  4. Entrants must present their project at the senior presentationsEntrants must present their paper at the senior presentations Wed. May 4, 2016, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m., Aviation Room, Harvey Mudd College.

AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENT: The winners will be announced at the senior presentations on Wed. May 4, 2016, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m., Aviation Room, Harvey Mudd College.

THE PETER KIANG THESIS PAPER PRIZE (FULL DESCRIPTION)

Dr. Peter Nien-chu Kiang is Professor of Education and Director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston where he has taught since 1987. Peter’s research, teaching, and advocacy in both K-12 and higher education with Asian American immigrant/refugee students and communities have been supported by the National Academy of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the Massachusetts Association for Bilingual Education, and others. He is currently co-president of the Chinese Historical Society of New England and former chair of the Massachusetts Advisory Committee for the US Commission on Civil Rights.

Size of Award: Each recipient of this award will be granted a prize of not more than $250. In case of multiple authorship of the winning paper or papers, the award may be apportioned.  This grant is not to be considered as a replacement for funds which the recipient may receive from any other source.

Selection Procedure: The selection of award recipients will be made by a selection committee from among papers which have been submitted to the Department by student authors, or nominated for this award by an IDAAS faculty member, staff person, or student.

Selection Criteria: The selection criteria to be used for this award have been designed and approved by the IDAAS Department.

When No Candidates Can Be Found: Awards need not be granted in a year when candidates or submissions cannot be found.

Selection Criteria for Peter Kiang Senior Thesis Prize

Individuals reviewing papers submitted for the IDAAS Senior Thesis Prize are asked to submit a brief written evaluation, including responses to the following questions:

• Is the presentation clear and appropriate for the intended audience?
• If the paper is expository or argumentative, how well does it achieve this goal?
• Was the paper edited carefully and proofread?
• If the paper contains original results or methods, how much originality has been displayed, and what is the significance of the work?

Selection Committee: A Selection Committee will select award winners and determine the distribution of funds to successful nominees. Membership of the committee will be:

• at least one IDAAS faculty
• at least one staff person
• at least one student or alumni

Award Categories: There are two possible awards within the IDAAS senior thesis prize:

1. Winner
2. Commendation

Past Awardees:

• 2003-2004     Freda Liu (CMC)
• 2004-2005    Chelsea Yamabe (Pitzer) and Diana Yin (Scripps)
• 2006-2007    Yining Wan (Scripps), Meagan Tom (Scripps), and Amanda Shortall (Scripps)
• 2007-2008    Mary Rose Go (Scripps)
• 2009-2010    Steven Liang (Pitzer)
• 2010-2011    Dayne Lee (Pomona) and Emi Sawada (Scripps)
• 2012-2013    Evyn Espiritu (Pomona), Priscilla Hsu (CMC), and Catherine Wang (Scripps)
• 2014-2015    Kimberly Africa (Pomona), Midori Ishizuka (CMC)
• 2015-2016    Corina Penaia (Pitzer), Thomas Vinh Trieu (Pomona)
• 2016-2017    Kristen Park (Pitzer)
• 2017-2018    Barbara Ko (Scripps), Kelly Peng (Scripps)

THE MERLE WOO THESIS PROJECT PRIZE  (FULL DESCRIPTION)

Merle Woo is a world-renowned Asian American lesbian feminist activist, educator and writer. While pursuing a Master’s Degree in English from San Francisco State University (SFSU), she was highly influenced by the 1968-1969 Third World Student Strikes, especially the key role of student democracy. After she earned her Master’s in 1969, she taught the first Third World Literature course in the English Department, while teaching in SFSU’s Educational Opportunity Program. She went on to teach in Asian American Studies at UC Berkeley in 1978, where she was fired in 1982. She fought and won a free speech/multi-discrimination case against UC Berkeley and was reinstated in 1984, only to be fired again because of retaliation in 1986. In 1989, she won a union arbitration against UC Berkeley. Woo continued to teach in Women’s Studies at SFSU until 1997, and then at San Jose State University. Woo’s teaching, writing, and activism interrogates issues of race, gender, sexuality and class oppression. She is a member of Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party. She has been widely published including her own, “Yellow Woman Speaks: Selected Poems”, the seminal, “This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color,” to the recent, “Smash the Church, Smash the State! The Early Years of Gay Liberation.”

Size of Award: Each recipient of this award will be granted a prize of not more than $250. In case of multiple authorship of the winning project or projects, the awards may be apportioned. This grant is not to be considered as a replacement for funds which the recipient may receive from any other source.

Selection Procedure: The selection of award recipients will be made by a selection committee from among the projects which have been submitted to the Department by student authors, or nominated for this award by an IDAAS faculty member, staff person, or student.

Selection Criteria: The selection criteria to be used for this award have been designed and approved by the IDAAS Department.

When No Candidates Can Be Found: Awards need not be granted in a year when candidates or submissions cannot be found.

Reviewer Criteria
Individuals reviewing projects submitted for the Merle Woo Project Prize are asked to submit a brief written evaluation, including responses to the following questions:

• How clear is the project’s goal?
• How well does the project achieve its goal?