2 Academia Sinica scholars awarded fellowships by British Academy

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) Two research fellows at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top academic institution, have been named as international fellows at the British Academy in 2024.

The two scholars are Academician David Wang (王德威), a corresponding research fellow at the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, and Joseph Chan (陳祖為), a distinguished research fellow at the Research Center for Humanities and Social Science, according to a press release from Academia Sinica on Monday.

The two academics were named alongside 28 other scholars who will join the British Academy as international fellows this year, according to the academy's website.

In addition to his post as corresponding fellow at the institution, Wang is also the Edward C. Henderson Professor of Chinese Literature at Harvard University, said Academia Sinica.

His research fields include the late Qing, modern, and contemporary Chinese literature, comparative literary theory and criticism, and Qing fiction and drama, the institution added.

In addition to leading a movement to translate and study Taiwanese literature, Wang has also written books including "The Lyrical in Epic Time: Modern Chinese Intellectuals and Artists Through the 1949 Crisis" and "Why Fiction Matters in Contemporary China," the institution said.

According to Academia Sinica, Chan is a Taiwan-based academic from Hong Kong who specializes in contemporary and Confucian political philosophy.

He has written the influential book "Confucian Perfectionism: A Political Philosophy for Modern Times," and is currently researching topics such as Confucian political ideas, contemporary equality theory as well as social change and diaspora in Hong Kong, the institution said.

Wang and Chan, alongside scholars from the United States, Canada, South Africa, Japan, China, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey and Israel, are joining "a community of more than 1,700 distinguished academics" at the British Academy, said a recent press release from the academy.

Established in 1902, the British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences, according to its official website.