Y.R. Chao Undergraduate Essay Prize

Y.R. Chao Undergraduate Essay Prize in East Asian Languages and Cultures

The Y.R. Chao Prize, awarded annually to the best undergraduate essay or research project in the East Asian humanities, honors our Department's rich lineage in the teaching and learning of East Asian languages. Y.R. Chao was an eminent linguist, poet, essayist, songwriter, and a pivotal figure in the making of the modern Chinese vernacular. He taught at Berkeley from 1947 to 1960.

Prize-winning essays should reflect Professor Chao's lucidity and elegance of expression, originality of research, and a spirit of intellectual curiosity and interdisciplinary inquiry.

The prize competition is open to all undergraduates enrolled in EALC classes.

This year's recipient of the prize is Travis Zhu, for the essay, “Dreams of the Mother’s Voice”

Awardees

2025- Travis Zhu, “Dreams of the Mother’s Voice”
2024- No prize awarded
2023- Sophia Malloy, "Explorations of East Asian Science Fiction: Skewed Relationships in the 'Abyss'"
2022- No prize awarded
2021- Wootae Jeon, "Strategies and Messages of Post-apocalyptic Fiction"
2020- Blue Fay, "The Thirteenth Beauty of Jinling: Suppression and Ephemerality in the Dream of the Red Chamber"