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• 1 hour ago• Lim_Rothanaksambath
Cambodian Scholar Dr. Theara Thun Wins Prestigious AMSEAS Book Prize
PHNOM PENH, July 7, 2026 – Cambodian historian Dr. Theara Thun has been awarded the 2026 AMSEAS Early Career Book Prize for his groundbreaking work, "Epistemology of the Past: Texts, History, and Intellectuals of Cambodia, 1855–1970" .
The prize, presented by the Association of Mainland Southeast Asia Scholars (AMSEAS), recognizes the best first book on a Mainland Southeast Asian studies topic by an early-career scholar . The award was conferred at the biennial conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in Geelong .
Drawing on extensive archival research, including Khmer chronicle manuscripts and colonial-era French texts, Dr. Thun's book reexamines how historical knowledge was created, contested, and transformed in Cambodia between 1855 and 1970 . The study offers a fresh perspective on the interaction between indigenous historical traditions and Western historiography during the colonial and postcolonial periods .
The AMSEAS prize committee praised the work for its exceptional archival rigor, conceptual sophistication, and broad scholarly significance, describing it as an important contribution to Cambodian studies, Southeast Asian intellectual history, and historiography .
Published by the University of Hawaii Press in 2024, the award-winning volume has also received an Honorable Mention for the Harry J. Benda Prize, awarded annually to an outstanding first book in Southeast Asian studies .
Dr. Thun is currently a research fellow at The University of Hong Kong and previously served as a postdoctoral researcher at Kyoto University and a visiting scholar at Stanford University .
— Source: University of Hawaii Press
Reported by The Khmer Daily Network
The prize, presented by the Association of Mainland Southeast Asia Scholars (AMSEAS), recognizes the best first book on a Mainland Southeast Asian studies topic by an early-career scholar . The award was conferred at the biennial conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in Geelong .
Drawing on extensive archival research, including Khmer chronicle manuscripts and colonial-era French texts, Dr. Thun's book reexamines how historical knowledge was created, contested, and transformed in Cambodia between 1855 and 1970 . The study offers a fresh perspective on the interaction between indigenous historical traditions and Western historiography during the colonial and postcolonial periods .
The AMSEAS prize committee praised the work for its exceptional archival rigor, conceptual sophistication, and broad scholarly significance, describing it as an important contribution to Cambodian studies, Southeast Asian intellectual history, and historiography .
Published by the University of Hawaii Press in 2024, the award-winning volume has also received an Honorable Mention for the Harry J. Benda Prize, awarded annually to an outstanding first book in Southeast Asian studies .
Dr. Thun is currently a research fellow at The University of Hong Kong and previously served as a postdoctoral researcher at Kyoto University and a visiting scholar at Stanford University .
— Source: University of Hawaii Press
Reported by The Khmer Daily Network
