Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize
The 3rd annual Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize will be awarded in early 2026 to an outstanding English-language PhD dissertation or thesis on modern Japan or Japanese history filed in 2024.
Prize
The winner will receive a monetary prize of $1,000 USD.
Guidelines for Submission
- Full consideration will be given to PhD dissertations or theses substantially illuminating the history of modern and contemporary Japan (1868-present), as well as dissertations exploring the historical roots of modern Japanese society and culture. Provided this condition is met, dissertations from any academic discipline and covering earlier eras of history are eligible.
- Dissertations must be originally written in English. Dissertations originally filed in other languages will not be considered.
- Only PhD or doctoral dissertations are eligible. Masters theses or undergraduate theses will not be considered.
- Dissertations must have been filed in calendar year 2024.
- Dissertators need not be members of the MJHA.
- Only MJHA members may nominate a thesis/dissertation for consideration.
- Dissertations and theses written by MJHA student members will be automatically considered. Simply fill out the nomination form found in the "Members Area" of this website.
Deadline
Nominations must be received by June 1, 2025 to be eligible for the 2026 award.
Nomination Form
Only MJHA members may nominate a thesis/dissertation for consideration. If you are a current MJHA member, please fill out the nomination form found in the "Members Area" of this website. If you would like to join MJHA, please sign up HERE.
About the Conroy Prizes
The prizes in honor of Francis Hilary Conroy and Charlotte J. Conroy were established in 2024 thanks to a generous gift from O.B. Karp and family.
The Conroy Prizes celebrate the life and legacy of the Conroys and their dedication to Japanese Studies and cross-cultural exchange by recognizing the work and advancing the career of junior scholars working in the fields of Japanese history and Japan studies.
2025 Prize Committee
SEIJI SHIRANE (Chair)
City College of New York
KÄREN WIGEN
Stanford University
LORI WATT
Washington University in St. Louis
2025 Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize Finalists
Michelle Hauk, Dwelling with Water: Tokyo Waterworks and the Remaking of the Urban Home, 1890–1990 (Columbia University, East Asian Languages and Cultures, 2023)
John Kanbayashi, Hydraulic Taiwan: Colonial Conservation under Japanese Imperial and Chinese Nationalist Rule, 1895-1964 (Harvard University, History, 2023)
Eri Kitada, Intimately Intertwined: Settler and Indigenous Communities, Filipino Women, and U.S.-Japanese Imperial Formations in the Philippines, 1903–1956 (Rutgers University, History, 2023)
2025 Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize Winner
John Kanbayashi
Author of Hydraulic Taiwan: Colonial Conservation under Japanese Imperial and Chinese Nationalist Rule, 1895-1964 (Harvard University, History, 2023)
Hydraulic Taiwan offers a pioneering exploration of the environmental history of colonial and postwar Taiwan. Drawing on a rich array of Japanese- and Chinese-language archival sources, John Kanbayashi examines the central role of Taiwan's rivers in shaping the island's political, social, and ecological landscapes. The study traces how Japanese colonial authorities, and later the Chinese Nationalist regime, undertook ambitious hydraulic projects—including dam construction, irrigation systems, and flood control measures—to extend state power, promote economic development, and reshape the Indigenous-dominated highlands and Han-dominated lowlands of Taiwan. Kanbayashi's beautifully written study makes a vital contribution to the intersecting fields of Japanese imperial history, Taiwanese studies, and environmental history, offering fresh insights into the ecological legacies of state-building and empire.