CJS Noon Lecture Series | Powering Empire: Hydroelectricity and Highland Taiwan
Schedule
Thu Apr 09 2026 at 12:00 pm to 01:30 pm
UTC-04:00Location
Weiser Hall, University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI
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Full title: Powering Empire: Hydroelectricity and Highland Taiwan under Japanese Colonial RulePlease note: This free lecture will be held in person in room 1010, Weiser Hall. It will not be livestreamed or recorded.
As the Japanese Empire expanded in the 1930s and 40s, it sought to use hydroelectricity to transform colonial Taiwan into an industrial hub. This, in turn, relied upon controlling natural and societal conditions in remote mountain valleys. By exploring the consequences of these efforts, this talk argues for seeing the material basis of Japanese expansion not just in extracted resources but in re-engineered landscapes and communities.
John Kanbayashi is assistant professor of history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania. His current book uses rivers and watersheds in Taiwan to understand how Japanese imperialism and its afterlives remade ecologies and societies. Other active research interests include climate science in Japan and agricultural colonization across the Japanese diaspora.
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Where is it happening?
Weiser Hall, University of Michigan, 1429 Hill St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3105, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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