In a critical time for US-China relations, the Esherick-Ye Foundation provided opportunities to conduct research in China and then share this new knowledge with colleagues and students.
A research grant from the Esherick-Ye Foundation made it possible for me to conduct archival and oral-history fieldwork in China for my dissertation, which examined the class politics of China’s early post-Mao era through the lens of workers’ democracy and enterprise reform between the late 1970s and the late 1980s. Logistical challenges abounded as I was trying to navigate fieldwork in 2021-2022, a period beset by incessant and haphazard covid lockdowns and travel restrictions in China. The Esherick-Ye Foundation’s financial support was pivotal in enabling me to come up with solutions to these challenges and finish my PhD.
Yueran Zhang Assistant Professor of Sociology and the College University of Chicago
When travel opportunities to China became limited, the Foundation’s flexible support allowed me to pivot to new strategies to collect sources and engage with colleagues from afar. In this way, I was able to make substantial and substantive progress on a new project, still deeply grounded in archives and primary sources. After years away, I’ve just returned to the field and have been able to hit the ground running!
Emily Mokros Associate Professor of History University of Kentucky
The Esherick-Ye Foundation supported my acquisition of rare “popular sources” from Qing-era firms (including ledgers, contracts, and business correspondence), as well as the training required to interpret them. It was a privilege to work with a Foundation that truly understands and cares deeply about original scholarship.
Matthew Lowenstein Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution Stanford University
I am deeply grateful and immensely honored to have received an Esherick-Ye Foundation grant. This support enabled me to successfully complete the final stage of my field research, alleviating my concerns about the escalating costs of international travel. The grant helped cover my accommodations, food and transportation, allowing me to efficiently and safely carry out my fieldwork. The invaluable hard-to-access written and oral sources I collected during this trip have significantly enriched the contents of my research articles, published in the Journal of Chinese History and Modern China in 2023.
Again, I express my deep gratitude for the EYF’s support!
Wang Xian Lecturer University of British Columbia
Esherick-Ye Foundation supported my initial research into labor and technology in the Maoist planned economy. This early assistance gave me that crucial sense of direction so vital to sustained, rigorous scholarship.
Yujie Li Assistant Professor Department of History University of Maryland
I’m pleased to inform you that a manuscript I authored, with research supported by your Foundation, has been published by Cambridge University Press: Food in Ancient China. Many thanks again for the generous support!
Yitzchak Jaffe Lecturer University of Haifa
The generosity of the Esherick-Ye Foundation made possible my very first research trip to China as a doctoral student in 2017, without which I probably would not be a China historian today. I am deeply grateful to the foundation for its support of the next generation of China scholars.
Carl Kubler Assistant Professor Carnegie Mellon University
