Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize
The 4th annual Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize will be awarded in early 2027 to an outstanding English-language PhD dissertation or thesis on modern Japan or Japanese history filed in 2025.
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 2025.
- 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 July 1, 2026 to be eligible for the 2027 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.
2027 Prize Committee
SEIJI SHIRANE (Chair)
City College of New York
JOSEPH SEELEY
University of Virginia
LORI WATT
Washington University in St. Louis
2026 Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize Finalists
Kandra Polatis, Anatomical Afterlives: Science, Dissection, and the (De-)Construction of the Modern Subject in Imperial Japan (University of California, Santa Barbara, History, 2024)
Sara Kang, Operation Relax: Empires of Sex in Japan, South Korea, and the Asia-Pacific, 1945-1995 (Harvard University, History, 2024)
Isaac Tan, Blood and Empire: The Emergence of Hemotypology (Blood-Group Studies) in Early Twentieth-Century Japan (Columbia University, History, 2024)
2026 Charlotte J. Conroy Dissertation Prize Winner
Sara Kang
Author of Operation Relax: Empires of Sex in Japan, South Korea, and the Asia-Pacific, 1945-1995 (Harvard University, History, 2024)
Operation Relax is an innovative and deeply researched analysis of postwar militarism, gender, and empire in the Asia-Pacific. Examining the UN- and U.S.-managed Rest and Recuperation (R&R) system during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Kang traces the expansion of military sex regimes from Japan to cities across East and Southeast Asia. Drawing on an impressive multilingual archive—English, Japanese, and Korean sources ranging from women’s testimonies to military and state documents—the study recenters women's lived experiences while revealing the shared structures of labor control, sexual regulation, and racialized governance that buttressed Cold War militarization. Operation Relax makes a major contribution to the histories of Japan, the Asia-Pacific, gender, and the Cold War.