- The Award is part of HUFS Institute of Indian Studies HK+ National Strategies Research Project Agency’s program to cultivate future scholars in the field.

 

HUFS Institute of Indian Studies (Head Kim Chan-Wan) Humanities Korea Plus (HK+) National Strategies Research Project Agency hosted the 3rd Indian/South Asian Studies Essay Award Ceremony at a lecture hall in Faculty Office Building II on May 26, 2021 (Wed.).

 

Launched to nurture the next generation of India and South Asia experts and marking its 3rd anniversary this year, the essay contest required applicants to submit an essay on the topic of “India’s Great Transformation” or any other topic on India and South Asia. Atotal of 14 HUFS undergraduate and graduate students submitted their English essays, and six of them were selected as finalists and awarded.

 

To ensure fairness and impartiality, the HUFS HK+ project agency set up a panel of 11 external judges, mostly non-HUFS professors and researchers, and its seven researchers. Each of the essays was assessed by three judges. After the screening process, the agency selected six final winners: one Grand Prize winner, two second prize winners and three third prize winners.

 

The Grand Prize went to the essay entitled “The Implications of the Changing Indian Defense Market on Korea: Centered on India-Russia Relations”. The second prizes went to the essays entitled “A Glance Back to the South Korea-India CEPA and Their Bilateral Trade Balance: An Empirical Analysis Using the Synthetic Control Method” and “A Study on the Modi Administration’s Diplomatic Decision-Making Process Using Allison’s Models: Centered on the 2020 Sino-India Border Dispute”. The third prize essays were entitled “Why Is an All-Out WAR a Remote Possibility?: Centered on Changes in the Conflict Between Indian and Pakistan”, “The Analysis of the Impact of Pakistan-Related Risks on the Indian Stock Market” and “A Study on Recent Developments in, and Future Prospects of, the Indian Dairy Market: Using Political, Economic, Social and Technological Analysis”. The 11 undergraduate and graduate essay writers were honored at the award ceremony.

 

At the ceremony, Head Kim Chan-Wan encouraged the participants by saying, “This 3rd essay contest attracted essays on India’s politics and foreign policy. As well demonstrated in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and other fields of global politics and public diplomacy, Indian studies has grown in importance. However, the number of India experts is far smaller than that of China experts. From this, we can see the inevitable growth in demand for Indian studies, which is an encouraging sign for future India researchers.” He extended his congratulations to the awardees and asked them to lead the nation’s Indian studies in the future.