Fifth Onon Prize Awarded to Professor Yuki Konagaya

The Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit is very pleased to announce that the fifth Onon Prize (2024) has been awarded to Professor Yuki Konagaya, for her outstanding contributions to Inner Asian Studies.

The Onon Prize was established in recognition of Professor Urgunge Onon’s contribution to the foundation of MIASU. The prize is intended to honour those who have made a substantial contribution to scholarship on the Mongolian & Inner Asian region.

On the event of Professor Konogaya’s Onon Prize Lecture, (October 2024, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge), Professor David Sneath welcomed Yuki Konagaya as the winner of the Onon prize 2024. Yuki presented part of her fieldwork focusing on the beginning of milking in human history. She shared her academic journey, which included studying geography at Kyoto University, studying Mongolian language, and working at the National Museum of Ethnology. Yuki also discussed her research on Mongolian towns, Otto and Sluk, and her fieldwork in Inner Mongolia. She encouraged the audience to explore her research and publications, which are available in English and Japanese.

Professor Caroline Humphrey discussed Professor Konogaya’s distinguished career, noting her significant contributions to anthropology, history, and sociology. Prof Konogaya, who has held various prestigious positions, including the director of the National Institute for Humanities and the Inspector of the Japan Society for the promotion of Science, has authored numerous books and publications. Prof Humphrey highlighted Yuki’s specialization in collecting life stories and her recent focus on animal-human relations.