Notice Board

Derek De Coste has been awarded the 2016 Michael Chan Prize in Asian Studies for his well-researched, 50-page paper, "Remembering the Nanjing Atrocity".  This paper was written for an Independent Study in History with Dr. Gideon Fujiwara.  The following summary was provided by Drs. Trevor Harrison and Andrea Amelinckx who adjudicated the prize:

The writer took on a difficult and controversial subject, examining the Nanjing Atrocity both in its historical context and in the multiple ways in which it has since interpreted.  The writer used both non-academic (i.e. journalistic) and academic sources drawn from several countries, among them Japan, China, and the United States.  In his paper, De Coste shows that the meaning of historical events does not lessen, and may even gain, in importance as times goes by.

Abstract:  De Coste's paper discusses the historiography of the Nanjing Atrocity through looking at the perspectives of Japanese, Chinese and American sources.  The purpose of this paper is to not simply recount Nanjing historically, or to compare and contrast different historical texts that have been produced in response to the Atrocity, but to also bring attention to how different narratives can develop in relation to one event.  In the creation of these various narrratives there is the risk of silencing the truth that exists.  The case of Nanjing is used to show how different silences can be produced while understanding the powers that are behind them, and how they have shaped the current discussion surrounding Nanjing.