Dan David Prize awards 9 scholars $300,000 each for research on the human past

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JERUSALEM (AP) — The Dan David Prize will award nine historians and archaeologists with $300,000 to recognize their work and support future research, the foundation announced Tuesday.

The scholars are from around the world and have pursued research on issues including violence and historical memory in the Balkans, how medieval societies perceived and structured time, and the ancient Inca road networks that influenced modern infrastructure in central Peru.

The winners received the award at a recent gathering in Italy.

The Dan David Prize, headquartered at Tel Aviv University, is given annually to early and mid-stage scholars, and honors “innovative research on the human past.”

Among this year’s winners are historian Howard Chiang of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who has analyzed the history of sex change in China and proposed a new paradigm for transgender history centered around geopolitics. Dagomar Degroot, an environmental historian, focuses on how civilizations have adapted to past ice ages.

“They challenge us to see the past, and our present, in a new light,” said Ariel David, board member of the prize and son of the award’s late founder, Dan David.

Previous recipients include Canadian novelist, Margaret Atwood, author of “The Handmaid’s Tale”; renowned American cellist Yo-Yo Ma and U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.