Williams Prize in East Asian Studies Competition

The Williams Prize in East Asian Studies is awarded to an undergraduate senior in any department at Yale University for an outstanding paper completed during the current academic year on a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean subject.

Papers will be judged on use of primary sources, quality of writing, and depth and originality of scholarship. It is expected that essays nominated for the Williams Prize will make substantial use of materials in an East Asian language(s) in any medium, including transcriptions of interviews.  Essays that focus exclusively on Asian American topics normally will not be considered eligible for consideration.

Course papers may be submitted.  Please note that you are REQUIRED to have a written endorsement of your submission. This endorsement need not be from the advisor for whom you originally wrote the paper or senior essay, but it must be made by a faculty member of the Council on East Asian Studies.  In either case, please allow time for the faculty to submit their written endorsement to the Council on East Asian Studies before the deadline.

Please submit the following to nicholas.disantis@yale.edu no later than 5:00 PM, Wendesday, April 30th, 2025:

• COVER PAGE
• ONE ELECTRONIC COPY OF YOUR PAPER
• WRITTEN ENDORSEMENT FROM A FACULTY MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL ON EAST ASIAN STUDIES