The UCLA Center for Chinese Studies announces the awarding of research grants in Taiwan Studies for 2010-11. Congratulations to awardees IRENA CRONIN（Department of Asian Languages and Cultures）and ANTHONY ESTES（Department of Anthropology）.

Irena Cronin（a first-year Ph.D. student with a track in Chinese literature and culture and a research focus on Han and pre-Han classical Chinese literature）will attend National Taiwan University（NTU）as a Visiting Student to perform research and attend classes during the Spring 2011 semester. Her advisor during her research visit will be Professor Lee Wei-tai of the Department of Chinese Literature at NTU. Professor Lee Wei-tai has published on, among other things, the literary and historical connections between the Shiji and the Hanshu.

Anthony Estes（whose research interests center on self-examination practices in global contexts, Buddhist and Christian subjectivities in Taiwan and the PRC, the psychotherapeutic uses of Mindfulness, and global/local modernities and secularities）will spend fifteen months in Taipei conducting field research on the influences of styles of speech and perspectives deemed to be "modern," "secular," and/or "individualistic" within contemporary Buddhist-styled practices of spirituality. The first phase of the project will study the patterns of speech and activity that occur within groups that train and facilitate Buddhist meditation, with particular emphasis on groups oriented toward combining Buddhist spirituality with "modern," lay lifestyles. The study will then make use of extensive open-ended interviewing methods（specifically "person-centered interviewing"）to consider whether and in what specific ways these and/or other salient themes observed within group speech influence the ways individuals narrate their personal experiences and motivations for practice.

Date Posted：6/4/2010

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