Nathan and Jeanette Miller Center for Historical Studies grant

The Nathan and Jeanette Miller Center for Historical Studies and the University of Maryland Libraries invite applications for two $1,500 grants to support research in the library’s Gordon W. Prange Collection and East Asia Collection on topics related to the period of the Allied Occupation of Japan and its aftermath, 1945-1960. Holders of a Ph.D. or an equivalent degree are eligible to apply, as are graduate students who have completed all requirements for the doctorate except the dissertation. The competition is open to scholars in all parts of the world and from any discipline, but historical topics are preferred. University of Maryland faculty, staff, and students may not apply. More information can be found on the Prange Collection website.

The application deadline is November 20, 2015.  The grant must be used by October 28, 2016. Grant funds will be disbursed in the form of reimbursement for travel, lodging, meals, reproductions, and related research expenses. Such costs as computers or software are not eligible. Reimbursement will require submission of receipts for processing by the University.

All applications must be submitted electronically by attachment to millercenter@umd.edu with “Twentieth-Century Japan Research Awards” in the subject line. Applications must include a curriculum vitae and a two-to three-page description (double-spaced) of the research project. Applications from graduate students must be accompanied by a letter from the principal faculty advisor attesting to the significance of the dissertation project and to the student’s completion of all other degree requirements.

Materials in the Gordon W. Prange Collection include virtually all Japanese-language newspapers, news agency releases, magazines, pamphlets, and books dating from the period of Allied censorship, 1945-1949, in addition to over 10,000 newspaper photos.  There are also materials published by Chinese and Korean residents, most of which are written in Japanese.  Related collections in English include the personal papers of Charles Kades and Justin Williams.  Office correspondence documenting policies and decisions of the Publications, Pictorial, and Broadcast Division, Civil Censorship Detachment (Civil Intelligence Section), Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Japan, are complementary to official Occupation records housed at the National Archives, College Park.  Japanese newspapers and magazines from the Prange Collection are available for research on microform. Other Prange materials are made available for research in the Prange Collection reading area after consultation with the Prange Curator or Manager.  The East Asia Collection contains Japanese-language books published during the wartime period, scholarly monographs on Occupied Japan, and a wide variety of reference works.

 A one-page summary of research findings is required at the conclusion of the grant period and sharing of research findings during an informal lunchtime talk is encouraged.

 For further information about the collections, consult the following websites: http:/www.lib.umd.edu/prange and http://www.lib.umd.edu/EASIA/eastasia.html

Katie Labor
History PhD Student 2019, University of Maryland
Coordinator, Graduate Assistant, Nathan and Jeanette Miller Center for Historical Studies
2115 Francis Scott Key Hall, College Park, MD, 20742
millercenter@umd.edu
http://history.umd.edu/historicalstudies
Phone 301-405-4299, Fax 301-314-9399
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