It is my pleasure to announce the winner and runner up of the 2019 John Legge prize for best thesis in Asian Studies, awarded by the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA).

The winner is Dr. Gwyn Andrew McClelland, for his PhD thesis, entitled Legacies of suffering, theologies of hope: Nagasaki Catholics, the bomb and dangerous memory (Monash University). The members of the judging committee, Professors Assa Doron (ANU), Michele Ford (University of Sydney) and Anne McLaren (Melbourne University) write that they found the study to be “an engaging, well written and argued thesis.” They describe it as “innovative in content and approach; breaking new ground in probing a novel topic; deploying a field-based methods, drawing on interviews (in language), an analysis of oral histories and cultural artefacts to reveal the trauma of the A-bomb and its enduring association with communal memories, oppression and the marginalisation of a Catholic minority in Nagasaki.”

The runner up is Dr. Eve Warburton for her thesis submitted at the Australian National University: Our Resources, Our Rules: A Political Economy of Nationalism in Indonesia’s Natural Resource Sectors.

The ASAA congratulates these outstanding early career researchers for their achievements, and wishes them the very best in their future careers. The Association also extends its thanks to the members of the judging panel for their service.

Professor Edward Aspinall

ASAA President