March 11, 2009 (REVISED March 16, 2009) Florence Tan Moeson Fellows Appointed

The Library has announced the recipients of the 2009 Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship. Under this program, seven scholars will have the opportunity to conduct research using the Library’s Asian collections.

Established in 2005, the fellowship is made possible by a generous donation from Florence Tan Moeson, a former Library employee who retired with more than 40 years of Library service. The purpose of the fellowship is to give individuals the opportunity to pursue research on East, Southeast or South Asia using the Library’s collections.

This year’s awardees include librarians, professors, graduate students and independent scholars whose research focuses on music, medicine, museums and politics. Each research project will result in a brief report and an informal presentation at the Library.

Under the terms of the donation, up to 15 Moeson fellowships will be awarded annually for 10 years. Each carries a stipend of $300 to $2,500 to support a minimum of five days of research at the Library of Congress. A list of 2009 fellows and their proposal titles are provided below. For more information about the fellowship, including how to apply for the 2010 awards, visit www.loc.gov/rr/asian/FTM.html.

2009 Florence Tan Moeson Fellows

Hong Cheng, University of California, Los Angeles, “Discovering Hidden Resources: Chinese Non-Publications”

Benjamin Deitle, University of Virginia, “The Making of Classics: Printing and the Spread of the Life and Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa by Tsangnyon Heruka (1452-1507)”

Maria Estele Duque, University of Melbourne, “Spatialization of Medicine: Philippine ‘Habitations’ in Medical Discourses” and “Militarization of the City: Implementing Burnham's Plan of Manila (1905)”

Theodore Gonzalves, University of Hawaii, Manoa, “Mock Battles and Seditious Plays: The Performance of Filipino/American Politics”

SeoKyung Han, Binghamton University, “Book Culture of Koryo and Choson Korea”

Amanda Stinchecum, independent scholar, “Textiles and Regional History: The Plight of Private Ethnological Museums in YaeYama, Okinawa”

Guven Peter Witteveen, Clinton County Regional Education Service Agency, St. Johns, Mich., “Outreach in Japanese Studies: Curriculum Materials for Teens and Community Colleges”

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its Web site at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized Web site at myLOC.gov.

The Library of Congress is the central repository for all types of Asian publications that are not broadly available at other locations in the United States. Initiated in 1869 with a gift of 10 works in 934 volumes offered to the United States by the Emperor of China, the Library’s Asian collection of more than 2.8 million items is the largest and most comprehensive outside of Asia.