By Karolis Margis ’26
The end of Block 3 saw one of the major events of the Asian Studies department this year. On a snowy afternoon of the 8th of November students flocked the Gaylord Hall to attend the Asian Studies Open House. The possibility of enjoying a Korean lunch was not the only attraction. The event was a great opportunity for students to learn about the Gaylord Prize – an annual prize of up to $1,200 for students doing research related to the department. Three students who won the prize in 2023 presented their projects during the event.
The first to present was Kalie Chang ’26. Her project was an exploration of her Taiwanese heritage. While she is a speaker of both Mandarin and English, she decided to learn more about the Taiwanese language, the native tongue of her ancestors. She spent her summer in Taiwan, traveling, connecting with the locals and studying the language. Eventually she created a digital resource for learning Taiwanese, currently available among Tutt Library resources.
The second presentation was by Meena Kim ’25. Meena has participated in the CC Chinese in Asia program three times already. The last time was during Blocks 7 and 8 of 2024. This proved a great opportunity for her to combine her two academic interests – biology and learning Mandarin Chinese. This resulted in a project about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Inspired by a Bridge Scholars class “Medicine of the Southwest,” she decided to explore the history and perceptions of TCM in China and find out how effective it is. Her methods included visits to museums as well as an interview with a doctor at Fudan University, who also helped to treat Meena’s cold.
The third presentation was by Maddie Spark ’26. She is a Physics major and a Chinese language minor. Her interest in art inspired her to investigate the aesthetic legacy of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution, a period between 1966 and 1976 saw a program launched by Mao Zedong to preserve and advance socialism by eliminating remnants of capitalism and traditional Chinese culture. This included banishment of traditional Chinese arts, leading to a change in Chinese architecture, paintings, printings and fashion. With the emphasis on visual arts, Maddie devoted a lot of time to analysis of art while in China during the CC Chinese in Asia program last year. She visited museums and arts exhibitions in Shanghai and Suzhou, which eventually resulted in a research paper.
The final speaker was Karolis Margis ’26. He is one of the writers of The Lotus newsletter (which you are currently reading). He talked about the mission of our newsletter and encouraged everyone to contribute to it and share their written insights with the rest of the college.