Arthur L. Basham Medal
The Arthur L. Basham Medal was instituted by Prof. Paul U. Unschuld during his period as President of IASTAM. The award is intended to preserve the memory of Professor Arthur Llewellyn Basham (1914-1986), co-founder of IASTAM with Prof. Charles Leslie, and to honour his contribution to the field of Asian medicine. It is awarded in recognition of special contributions by IASTAM members to promoting the Association’s goals, such as outstanding studies in the social and cultural history of traditional Asian medicine.
IASTAM’s Constitution specifies that the award is to be made, when so merited, on the occasion of the ICTAM meetings. The medal has so far been awarded to the following outstanding scholars in the field of Asian Medicine:
- ICTAM IX (2017): Shizu SAKAI & Judith Farquhar
- ICTAM VIII (2013): Vivienne Lo
- ICTAM VII (2009): Vincanne Adams
- ICTAM VI (2006): Narendra Bhatt & Zheng Jinsheng
- ICTAM V (2002): Dominik Wujastyk
- ICTAM IV (1994): Patricia and Roger Jeffery & Shigehisa Kuriyama
- ICTAM III (1990): Jan Meulenbeld & Yamada Keiji
The recipient is presented with a specially-designed medal, and it has also become customary for the recipient, whose name is publically announced at ICTAM, to present a Basham Award Lecture at the ICTAM meeting. The medal normally alternates between Asian and Western scholars.
Charles Leslie Prize
The Charles Leslie prize seeks to honour the work of Charles Leslie and his dedication to IASTAM, and aims to encourage young scholars in the field that he helped to establish. Sadly, Professor Leslie died in 2009. It is hoped that these awards act in some way as a fitting tribute to the man himself, a much-liked and respected colleague, as well as for his outstanding contributions to the field of Asian Medicine. This prize is awarded to the best original, unpublished scholarly essay on Asian medicine submitted to the competition and judged by the IASTAM Council.
The nominee for the award must be a member in good standing of IASTAM, and must fall into any of the following categories:
- a practitioner of an Asian medical tradition (with fewer than three publications), or
- a graduate student, or
- a recent PhD who received his/her doctoral degree fewer than five years prior to the deadline for nomination, or
- a scholar who is in a contingent faculty position without tenure or long-term contract (e.g., adjunct, one-year visiting scholar, etc.)
There are no age restrictions on entering for this prize. The paper should apply methods from anthropology, history, or any other academic discipline to the critical study of Asian medical systems in context, and from any period up to the present. Manuscripts must be in English. The winning essay will be announced in IASTAM publications and the society website and will be given preferential consideration for publication in the orgnanisation’s journal, Asian Medicine (subject to editorial decision). Please follow the journal style guidelines for the submission. Entries must be received by the president of IASTAM no later than 15 January each year, the winner being announced by 15 May of the same year.
Previous recipients:
- 2021 Will Ceurvels
- 2016 Di Lu
- 2013 Karen McNamara
- 2009 Soyoung Suh