The Harvard-Yenching Library awards several grants each year to help scholars from the US and Canada travel to Cambridge to use our collections in their research.
These merit-based awards are open to non-tenured faculty, dissertation-writing PhD candidates (or ABDs), and independent scholars. Priority consideration will be given to applicants from institutions with limited or no East Asian language library resources, and those without major East Asian library collections nearby.
For 2026, 10 grants of $2,000 are available. Grant applications are due by January 31, 2026 and awards must be used by August 31, 2026.
This program is made possible through the support of the Harvard-Yenching Institute.
How to Apply
Your application must include:
- A 1-page resume
- A brief research proposal
- A list of titles of specific Harvard-Yenching Library resources needed for your research
The deadline to apply is January 31, 2026.
For Additional Information, Please Contact:
Past Recipients
2026
Christopher Elford
“Brushwork as Bloodwork: Character Appraisal, Calligraphy, and Individual Literary Style in Early Medieval China”
James Gerien-Chen
“Edward Drew, Taiwan-Registered Junks, and the Changing Geographies of Maritime Trade and Public Finance in Early 20th c. Fujian”
Kim Yehbohn Lacey
“Northern Flight of Koreans and the Making of a Trans-Imperial Subject”
Giseung Lee
“Mobility, Aging, and Policy in Rural Japan: Elderly Drivers and the Politics of License Surrender”
Jae Hwan Lim
“The Wagner Collection, the Fitch Papers, and the Gillette Papers: Examining the Impact of the Korean Division and War on Korean Orphans and Refugees”
Carlos Yu-Kai Lin
“Reframing the May Fourth Movement in Cold War America: The 1969 Harvard Conference and the Making of U.S. May Fourth Studies”
Olivia Maddox
“Maternal Revolutions: A Cultural History of Motherhood in Modern China”
Adam Monohon
“Photography, Landscape, and the Economy of Tea in the Min River Valley, 1850–1880”
Julia Haoran Ni
“Consuming Modernity in Summer: The Localization of American Cold Refreshments in Modern China (1912–1955)”
Mi-Ryong Shim
“The Afterlives of an Oriental Yankee: Younghill Kang and the Cold War Reconstruction of Korean Literature”
2025
Sara Conrad
“Contours of Empire: Tibet, India, and Great Britain in the Shadow of Colonialism”
Anne Crosby
“Chinese Spirit Writing in Taiwan”
Seira Duncan
“The Development of the Concept of Indigeneity in Japan: Past and Contemporary Implications”
Kang Kang
“Sinopessimisms: Afterlives of Settler Revolution in Sinophone Ethnic Literature”
Haeyoung Kim
“Tracking Socialist Solidarity: Railroad Infrastructure in Cold War North Korea”
Adam Lyons
“Coming of Age in the New Religions of Japan: Belonging, Stigma, and Luck in a Secular Society”
Lina Nie
“Going Offshore: Maritime Exchanges in East Asia from the 1000s to 1500s”
James Podgorski
“Hybrid Trees, Mechanized Fields: Korean and American Environmental Collaboration during the Cold War”
Kejian Shi
“Sea of Luxuries: Oceanic Knowledge, Environment, and Consumption in the South China Sea, 1500–1900”
Yidan Yang
“The Impact of M Lanfang and C Yu's Visits to North America on the Global Left-Wing Theater Movement”