Hsin-Yuan Peng (Comparative Literature & Film and Media Studies) was awarded the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship 2020 for “Meteorology by Cinematic Means: Aesthetics and Epistemology of Weather Images.”
Hsin-Yuan Peng’s research focuses on the use of moving image technologies by Japanese meteorologists Abe Masanao, Nakaya Ukichirō, and their European colleagues. She argues that scientific visualization of weather is a complex act of construction rather than passive documentation. By analyzing meteorological filmmaking, it is possible to imagine a genealogy of cinema from the perspective of weather sciences, and also to appreciate these scientists’ extraordinary sensibilities to the atmosphere at different historical moments.
Hsin-Yuan Peng said, “I feel very honored to receive this award, which has given me a sense of certainty to continue my research in spite of the chaos caused by the pandemic. It is also encouraging to know that difficult, interdisciplinary work can receive recognition.”