Davide Toschi wins UZH Semester Prize for spring 2025

Davide Toschi wins the UZH Semester Prize for Spring 2025!

Davide wrote his brilliant paper “Die Natur im Zentrum: Naturanschauung des Satō Nobuhiro” (1769–1850) as a contribution to my BA-Seminar “The Japanese Empire in Ecological Perspective” this spring. I am proud that the university-wide, multidisciplinary award committee chose to honor one of my advisees for the third time in a row, following on Vivianne Rhyner in Spring 2024 and Jil Rissi in Fall 2024.

Davide’s paper considers five texts by one of the most prominent early modern economists of Japan, raising questions about the origin of modern terminologies and assumptions pertaining to the relationship of economy and environment. By digging into the archive of early modern Japan, Davide offers a longer perspective on the intellectual compasses of the world’s fourth-largest economic power. It is remarkable that he conducted this research largely on his own, in a seminar that was otherwise centered on Japan’s modern empire (1868–1945).

Congratulations, Davide!