Jonathan Skaff's Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
University of Michigan, Ph.D., History,
awarded December 1998
- Dissertation: "Straddling Steppe and Sown: Tang China's
Relations with the Nomads of Inner Asia (640-756)" {Abstract}
- Committee Chair: Chun-shu Chang
- Preliminary examination fields: premodern China, modern
China, medieval Near East and Inner Asia, and premodern Japan, passed in
January 1994
University of Michigan, M.A., History,
1992
Hobart College, Geneva, NY,
B.A. in History, cum laude,
1982
ACADEMIC HONORS and FELLOWSHIPS
National/International
- Seventh Annual M. I. Rostovtzeff Lecture Series and Visiting Research Scholar, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, 2015-2016
- Royal Numismatic Society Research Grant, Lowick and Kreitman Funds, 2015
- National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, 2007-2008
- Institute for Advanced Study, School of Historical Studies, Felix Gilbert Membership Membership, Fall 2007
- American Philosophical Society, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Sabbatical Fellowship, 2006-2007
- Project Member,
The Silk Road Project: Reuniting Turfan's Scattered Treasures, a Luce
Foundation U.S.-China Cooperative Research Program, 1995-98
- Committee on Scholarly Communication with China, Graduate Fellowship for Research in China, 1995-96
- Peking University Tuition Scholarship, 1995-96
- U.S. Department of Education, Jacob J. Javits Graduate Fellowship, 1991-95
- Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship in Arabic (Declined), 1991-92
University
PUBLICATIONS
Books
- Silk Roads and Steppe Roads of Medieval China: History Unearthed from Tombs. Princeton University Press, Rostovtzeff Series, under contract, forthcoming.
- Sui-Tang China and its Turko-Mongol Neighbors: Culture, Power and Connections, 580-800, Oxford University Press, Oxford Studies in Early Empires series, 2012.
- Google Books
- Also available from Oxford Scholarship Online, Oxford University Press, Sept. 20, 2012.
- Paperback edition, Oxford University Press, 2018.
- Chinese translation, Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, forthcoming.
- Reviews:
- CHIA Ning, Review Article, Monumenta Serica, 61 (2013), 301-16.
- Ruth Dunnell, The Historian, 76, no. 3, (2013), 613-14.
- David A. Graff, The Journal of Asian Studies, 72, no. 4 (2013), 985-86.
- Hang LIN, Journal of Asian History, 48, no. 1, (2014), 115-18.
- Michael Hoeckelmann, Journal of World History, 27, no. 1, (2016), 121-30.
- Yihong PAN, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 73, no. 2 (2013), 423-29.
- WANG Zhenping, American Historical Review, 118, no. 4 (2013), 1157-8.
- Don J. Wyatt, Journal of Chinese Military History, 2 (2013), 201-3.
Articles and Book Chapters
- “Early Medieval China’s Rulers, Retainers, and Harem” in The Cambridge World History of Violence, Volume 2: AD 500-AD 1500, Matthew S. Gordon, Richard W. Kaeuper and Harriet Zurndorfer, eds. Cambridge University Press, 2020, 123-142.
- “Slavery and Foreign Slaves at Turfan during the Gaochang Kingdom (442–640)” in Early Medieval North China: Archaeological and Textual Evidence, Shing Müller and Sonja Filip, eds. Harrassowitz, 2019, 283-300.
- “The Tomb of Pugu Yitu (635-678) in Mongolia: Tang-Turkic Diplomacy and Ritual” in Competing Narratives between Nomadic People and Their Sedentary Neighbours: Papers of the 7th International Conference on the Medieval History of the Eurasian Steppe, November 9-12, 2018, Shanghai University, China, edited by Chen Hao. Szeged, Hungary: University of Szeged, Department of Altaic Studies, 2019, 295-307.
- “Ideological Interweaving in Eastern Eurasia: Simultaneous Kingship and Its Origins” in Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity: Rome, China, Iran, and the Steppe, ca. 250–750, Nicola Di Cosmo and Michael Maas, eds. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2018, 386-399.
- “Tang China’s Horse Power: The Borderland Breeding Ranch System.” In Eurasian Empires in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Contact and Exchange between the Graeco-Roman World, Inner Asia and China, Hyun Jin Kim and Frederik Vervaet, eds. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
- “Tang Military Culture and Its Inner Asian Influences.” In Military Culture in Imperial China, Nicola Di Cosmo, ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009, pp. 165-191.
- Co-author with William Honeychurch. "Empire Building before the Mongols: Legacies of the Türks and Uyghurs." In Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire, edited by William Fitzhugh, Morris Rossabi and William Honeychurch. Seattle: Dino Don Inc./Genghis Khan Exhibits, University of Washington Press, 2009, pp. 84-89.
- "Loyalties Divided: The Question of Ethnicity in the Tang-Türgish Conflict of 708-9." Early Medieval China, 13-14 (2008) : 171-190.
- “Documenting Sogdian Society at Turfan in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries: Tang Dynasty Census Records as a Window on Cultural Distinction and Change.” In Les Sogdiens en Chine. Etienne de la Vaissière and Eric Trombert, eds. Paris: École française d'Extrême-Orient, 2005, 311-342.
- “Survival in the Frontier Zone: Comparative Perspectives on Identity and Political Allegiance in China's Inner Asian Borderlands during the Sui-Tang Dynastic Transition (617-630).” Journal of World History. Vol. 15 no. 2, (June 2004): 117-153.
- “The Sogdian Trade Diaspora in East Turkestan during the Seventh and Eighth Centuries.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 46, no. 4 (2003): 475-524.
- Western Turk Rule of Turkestan's Oases in the Sixth through Eighth
Centuries. In The Turks. Ankara: Yeni Türkiye, 2002: 364-72. {Abstract}
- Turkish translation in Türkler. Ankara: Yeni Türkiye, 2002, 2: 97-106
- "Barbarians at the Gates? The Tang Frontier Military and the An
Lushan Rebellion." War
and Society 18, no. 2 (2000): 23-35.
{Abstract}
- Reprinted in Warfare in China to 1600. Peter Lorge, ed., Aldershot, UK: Ashagate Publishing. Part of the International Library of Essays in Military History, Jeremy Black, General Editor.
- "The Sasanian and Arab-Sasanian Silver Coins from Turfan: Their Relationship
to International Trade and the Local Economy." Asia
Major 11 (1998 [2000]), 67-115. {Abstract}
Translation
Original Publications in China
- “Zuowei Ou-Ya liyi de Sui-Tang waijiao lijie” 作為歐亞禮儀的隋唐外交禮節 {Sui-Tang Diplomatic Protocol as Eurasian Ritual} in Tang yanjiu 唐 研 究 {Tang Studies (Beijing)} 16 (2010): 77-90
- “He de "bianshi jiebao"?--Tangdai xibei 648, 655, 657 nian zhu zhanyi zhihuiguan de junshi wenhua xingdong” 何得“边事捷报”?—— 唐代西北648,655,657诸战役指挥官的军事文化行动 (The Culture of Frontier Victory: Commanders of the Tang Northwestern Campaigns of 648, 655, and 657). In Bianchen yu jiangli 边臣与疆吏 (Les fonctionnaires des frontieres), 法国汉学(第十二辑)edited by P. Calanca and F. Jajou. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2007.
Non-Peer Reviewed Publications
Book Reviews
- The Avars: A Steppe Empire in Central Europe, 567-822 by Walter Pohl, Studies in Late Antiquity, (Forthcoming).
- Empire of Style: Silk and Fashion in Tang China by BuYun Chen, Journal of Chinese Studies, (Forthcoming).
- Featured Review: In the Wake of the Mongols: The Making of a New Social Order in North China, 1200-1600, by Jinping Wang, The American Historical Review124 (December 2019): 1817-20.
- Reading Sima Qian from Han to Song: The Father of History in Pre-modern China, by Esther Sunkyung Klein, Choice (June 2019).
- The Eurasian Way of War: Military Practice in Seventh-Century China and Byzantium, by David A. Graff, The Journal of Chinese Military History 6 (2017): 226-8.
- Nomads as Agents of Cultural Change: The Mongols and their Eurasian Predecessors. Reuven Amitai and Michal Biran, eds. The American Historical Review. 120 (2015): 1870-71
- China's Encounters on the South and Southwest: Reforging the Fiery Frontier over Two Millennia. Anderson, James A. and John K. Whitmore, eds. Choice. (September 2015)
- Destruction of the Medieval Chinese Aristocracy. Nicolas Tackett. Journal of Chinese Studies. No. 61 (July 2015): 365-369.
- China and Beyond in the Mediaeval Period, Cultural Crossings and Inter-Regional Connections. Dorothy C. Wong and Gustav Heldt, eds. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 78 (June 2015): 415-416.
- Shifting Stories: History, Gossip, and Lore in Narratives from Tang Dynasty China. Sarah M. Allen. Choice. (May 2015)
- Tang China in Multi-Polar Asia: A History of Diplomacy and War. Wang Zhenping. Journal of Asian Studies. 73 (2014): 799-801
- Strategies for the Human Realm: Crux of the T'ai-pai Yin-ching. Ralph D. Sawyer. The Journal of Chinese Military History. 3 (2014): 71-88
- The Silk Road: A New History. Valerie Hansen .Choice. (March 2013)
- The Journey of Maps and Images on the Silk Road. Philippe Forêt and Andreas Klapony, eds. Archivum Eurasiae medii aevi. 19 (2012): 307-10.
- The Great Wall: A Cultural History. Carlos Rojas. Choice. (September 2011).
- The Blacks of Premodern China. Don J. Wyatt. Choice. (September 2010).
- China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty. Mark Edward Lewis. Choice. (May 2010).
- Ethnic Identity in Tang China. Marc Samuel Abramson. Archivum Eurasiae medii aevi. 16 (2008/2009): 289-92.
- Bureaucracy and the State in Early China: Governing the Western Zhou. Feng Li. Choice. (February 2010).
- Trade and Contemporary Society along the Silk Road: An Ethno-History of Ladakh. Jacqueline H. Fewkes. Choice. (December 2009).
- Subjects and Masters: Uyghurs in the Mongol Empire. Michael C. Brose. Journal of Asian Studies. (February 2009).
- Kingship in Early Medieval China. Andrew Eisenberg. Choice. (January 2009).
- Unbounded Loyalty: Frontier Crossings in Liao China. Naomi Standen. Choice. (December 2008).
- Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty: His Life, Times, and Legacy. Victor Cunrui Xiong. Choice. (October 2006).
- Politics and Conservatism in North China: The Career and Thought of Sima Guang (A.D. 1019-1086) by Ji Xiao-bin. Choice. (April 2006).
- Ambassadors from the Islands of Immortals: China-Japan Relations in the Han-Tang Period. Wang Zhenping. Choice. (March 2006).
- Mongols, Turks, and Others: Eurasian Nomads and the Sedentary World. edited by Reuven Amitai and Michal Biran. Archivum Eurasiae medii aevi (2005).
- T'ang China: the Rise of the East in World History by S.A.M. Adshead. Choice. (February 2005).
- Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World by Leo de Hartog. Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 35, no. 1 (2001): 92-3.
PRESENTATIONS
Invited Lectures with Honoraria and/or Expenses
- Keynote, “The Tomb of Pugu Yitu (635-678) in Mongolia: Tang-Turkic Diplomacy and Ritual,” Seventh International Conference on the Medieval History of the Eurasian Steppe, Shanghai University, November 10, 2018
- “Slavery on the Silk Road of the Tang Empire,” University of Virginia, East Asia Center, April 20, 2018.
- “The Silk Road Slave Trade during the Tang Dynasty,” New York University Shanghai, Center for Global Asia Lecture Series, October 17, 2016.
- Keynote Speech, “Forerunners of the Mongols: Diplomacy in the Age of the Turks and Tang,” Diplomacy in the Age of Mongol Globalization Conference, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, May 30, 2016.
- Seventh Annual M. I. Rostovtzeff Lectures, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University
- “Tang China's Horsepower: The China-Inner Asian Borderlands,” Stanford University, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Silkroad Lecture Series, March 20, 2013
- “Tang Heavenly Qaghans and Türk Sons of Heaven: The Origins of Simultaneous Kingship in Eastern Eurasia.” Yale University, China Colloquium Series, September 27, 2012
- “Climate, Ecology and Weather in Tang-Türk Relations,” Dickinson College, September 20, 2012
- “Political Integration through Patronage: Inner Asians in Tang Dynasty (618-907) China's Military,” Harvard University, Inner Asia and Altaic Studies Program Lunchtime Lecture Series, March 9, 2011.
- “Beyond the Silk Roads: Cultural Interaction and Exchange along Tang China's Northern Borderlands,” University of Pennsylvania, East Asia Humanities Colloquium, October 11, 2007.
- NEH Summer Institute for College and University Teachers, The Silk Road: Early Globalization and Chinese Cultural Identity, sponsored by the Asian Studies Development Program of the East-West Center and the University of Hawai'i, delivered 4 lectures and participated on 2 panel discussions, July 13-21, 2006.
- “Iran, China and Central Asia in Medieval Times,” NEH Summer Institute for School Teachers, China and the Islamic World, sponsored by the China Institute of America and taking place at Columbia University, New York City, July 26, 2005.
Invited National and International Conferences with Expenses
- “Sui-Tang Diplomatic Protocol as Eurasian Ritual Performance,” PAIXUE Symposium on Classicising Learning, Performance, and Power: Eurasian Perspectives from Antiquity to the Early Modern Period,” University of Edinburgh, Dec. 14, 2019
- “Slaves of Merchants and Mandarins in Tang Dynasty Caravans,” Workshop on Chinese Civilization on the Silk Road, Peking University, Beijing, China, November 10, 2019
- “Silk Roads or Slave Roads? Slavery in Tang Dynasty Caravans,” Dunhuang Passages: The Silk Roads as Matrices of Space and Place, Keimyung University Center for Silk Road and Central Asian Studies, Daegu, South Korea, October 18, 2019
- “The Medieval Practice of Eurasian Diplomacy and Its Codification in Tang China (618-907),” Legal Pluralism in Asia and Global Histories of International Law(s) Conference, Harvard University, September 6, 2019
- “Two Tang-Style Tombs of Turkic Allies in Mongolia: The Value of Textual and Material Analysis,” New Frontiers in the Study of Medieval China Workshop on Commemorative Inscriptions, Reed College, Portland, Oregon, May 17, 2018
- “Slavery and Foreign Slaves at Turfan during the Gaochang Kingdom (442-640),” Cultural Diversity in Northern China during the Fifth and the Sixth Centuries, Institute for Sinology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, Jan. 13, 2017
- "Ideological Interweaving in Eastern Eurasia: Simultaneous Kingship and its Origins," University of Melbourne-Nanjing University Forum on Comparative Studies of Ancient and Medieval Eurasian Empires, University of Melbourne, August 22, 2014
- “The Patrimonial Political Cultures of the Medieval Tang and Turkic Empires,” Worlds in Motion: Rome, China, and the Eurasian Steppe in Late Antiquity, ca. 250-650, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, June 1, 2013.
- “Horse Procurement during the Tang Dynasty,” presented at the Workshop on Sedentary Answers to Nomadic Policies in Central Asia, 1st Millennium AD, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, December 16, 2011.
- “Sui-Tang and Türk Propaganda Wars: A Case Study of the Circulation of Ideas in Medieval Eastern Eurasia,” presented at Global Asias Conference, Pennsylvania State University, October 23, 2009.
- “The Culture of Frontier Victory: A Comparison of the Commanders of the Tang Northwestern Campaigns of 648, 655, and 657,” presented at the Officials on the Chinese Borders Colloquium, Academia Sinica, Taibei, Taiwan, October 2-4, 2006.
- “A Preliminary Study of the Demographic Structure of Sogdian Households at Turfan,” presented at conference on Sogdians in China: New Research in History, Archaeology, and Philology, Chinese National Library, Beijing, April 22-25, 2004.
- “Tang Military Culture and its Inner Asian Influences,” presented at the Military Culture in Imperial Chinese History Conference, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, January 11, 2003.
- “Crossing Frontiers along Medieval Asia's Silk Roads,” presented at the Teaching of History Conference, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, September 14, 2002.
- "The Silver Sasanian and Arab-Sasanian Coins Found at Turfan: Their Relationship to International Trade and the Local Economy," presented at the Third Silk Road Conference, Yale University, July 12, 1998. {Abstract}
Invited Lectures
- “Power through Patronage: Interethnic Political Networking in Tang China,” Institute for Advanced Study, East Asian Studies Seminar, December 11, 2007.
- “Tang China's Northern Borderlands: Historical and Ecological Perspectives on Interactions with Inner Asia,” Institute for Advanced Study, School of Historical Studies, Lunchtime Colloquia Series, November 12, 2007.
- “Tang China's Northern Borderlands: Historical and Ecological Perspectives on Interactions with Inner Asia,” Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Department of Anthropology, May 24, 2007.
- “Silver, Silk, and Sogdians: The Silk Road in Asia from the Fifth to the Eighth Century,” Phi Alpha Theta Annual Lecture, Stetson University, DeLand, FL, November 19, 1998.
- “China and Tibet Vie for Control of the Western Himalayas: A Chapter in the Eighth Century Struggle for Inner Asia,” presented at the University of Michigan, Center for Chinese Studies Brown Bag Lecture Series, November 22, 1994.
Roundtable Discussion
- Silk Road Roundtable: A Dialogue between Archaeologists and Historians, American Historical Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, January 9, 2016
Professional Meetings and Conferences
- “Silk Road Slavery in Medieval Chinese Documents,” Medieval Unfreedoms: Slavery, Servitude, and Trafficking in Humans before the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Binghamton University, October 20, 2018
- “Slaves and Slavers on the Tang Empire’s Silk Road,” Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., March, 22, 2018
- “The Recently Discovered Tang Tomb and Epitaph of Pugu Yitu (635-678) in Mongolia: New Light on the Tang-Tiele (Uighur) Alliance,” T’ang Studies Association, Eide Library, Sarasota, Florida, November 11, 2016
- “Silver Sasanian and Arab-Sasanian Coins Circulating at Turfan in the 6th and 7th Centuries,” Oriental Numismatic Society Meeting, British Museum, July 25, 2015
- “Horsemen of the Tang Borderland Ranches,” Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Chicago, March 27, 2015
- “The Geo-Strategic Significance of Inner Mongolia: A Case Study of the Sui-Tang and Türk Empires,” presented at the Annual Conference of the Chinese Military History Society, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., May 10, 2012.
- “Monarchs, Martial Clients and Power in the Medieval Tang and Turkic Empires,” presented at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Toronto, March 18, 2012.
- “Politics of the Fictive Family: Tang Surname Bestowal, Fosterage and Adoption,” presented at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Honolulu, April 1, 2011.
- “Sui-Tang Diplomatic Protocol as Eurasian Ritual,” presented at T'ang Studies: The Next Twenty-five Years, University of Albany, Albany, NY, May 8, 2009.
- “Heavenly Qaghans, Propaganda Wars, and the Origins of Simultaneous Kingship in Eastern Eurasia,” presented at the 12th Annual Southeast Early China Roundtable Conference, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, November 16, 2008.
- “Steppe-Sown Borderlands as Avenues of Eurasian Cultural Exchange: The Case of China and Mongolia (4th-8th centuries),” presented at Andre Gunder Frank's Legacy of Critical Social Science, University of Pittsburgh, April 13, 2008.
- “Tang Dynasty (618-907) China's Northern Borderlands: Evidence from the Horse System,” presented at the American Philosophical Society Sabbatical Fellowship Conference, Philadelphia, May 19, 2007.“Sogdian Settlers and Merchants at Tang Dynasty Turfan (7th-8th Centuries): A Documentary Tour,” presented at the Asian Merchant Cultures Conference, Hofstra University, March 10, 2006.
- "Loyalties Divided: The Question of Ethnicity in the Tang-Türgish Conflict
of 708-9," presented at the Association for
Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Washington, April 6, 2002.
- "Altered Loyalties and Identities on the Sui and Tang Frontier (7th and 8th
Centuries)," presented at the American Historical
Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, January 5, 2002. {Abstract}
- "The Sogdian Trade Diaspora in East Turkestan during the Seventh and
Eighth Centuries According to Chinese Sources," presented at the 36th
International Congress of Asian and North African Studies, Montreal,
August 29, 2000. {Abstract}
- "Barbarians at the Gates? The Tang Frontier Military and the An Lushan Rebellion," presented at the Association for Asian Studies
Annual Meeting, Boston, March 11, 1999.
- "Nomadic Rule of Turkestan's Oases in the Sixth through Eighth Centuries," presented at the Fifth Annual Central Eurasian Studies Conference, Indiana
University, February 21, 1998. {Abstract}
- "With Bridle, Reins and Halter: Tang Attempts to Locally Administer
the Nomadic Tribes on its Northwestern Frontier during the Reign of Xuanzong
(712-56)," presented at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting
on March 15, 1997.
- "Issues in Traditional Chinese Historiography: The Rise of Islam According
to Official Tang History," presented at the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs,
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, October 24, 1992.
Colloquia Presentations
- Co-presenter with Richard Abels of U.S. Naval Academy, “Conceptualizing Culture with Attention to the Patron-Client Relationship in Early Medieval Europe and China,” Institute for Advanced Study, Medieval Table Colloquium, October 17, 2007.
- “What's New on the Chinese Frontier?” Shippensburg University History/Philosophy Department Faculty Research Seminar, October 10, 2002.
- “The Tang Military on the Northwestern Frontier,” presented to the University of Michigan Military Studies Group on February 28, 1997.
Commentator/Discussant
- "Sweeping the Dust off History: New Approaches to Incorporating Archaeological Finds and Rare Documents in East Asia and Beyond," accepted for Association for Asian Studies 2014 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, March 27-30, 2014
- Legitimating Power and Constructing Identity: Cultural Crossovers in Mortuary Art in Sixth Century Northern China Workshop, Fairbanks Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University, October 29, 2011.
- “Textiles in this World: Taxes, the Military, Government Spending,” Textiles as Money Workshop, Yale University, October 3, 2009.
Chair
- “Transculturation between Medieval China and Central Asia: Politics and Communications Represented through the Adapted Mediums of Artifacts, Images, and Humans,” Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Denver, March 24, 2019
- “Empires of the Plains: A World Historical Perspective,” American Historical Association Annual Meeting, Denver, January 6, 2017
- “The Southwest,” Officials on the Chinese Borders Colloquium, Academia Sinica, Taibei, Taiwan, October 3, 2006.
Interview
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP
Professional Society Leadership
- Secretary, T’ang Studies Society, board appointment, 2019-2023
- Board of Directors, T’ang Studies Society, elected, 2016-2019
- Executive Committee, Early Medieval China Group, elected, 2016-present
- Chair, Nominating Committee, T’ang Studies Society, presidential appointment, 2017
- Nominating Committee, Early Medieval China Group, presidential appointment, 2020
- Program Committee, 131st American Historical Association Annual Meeting in Denver, presidential appointment, 2015-2017
Journal Editorial Duties
- Co-editor, Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi, 2013-present
- Guest Co-Editor with Scott Pearce, Early Medieval China, Volume 25, Essays in Honor of Albert E. Dien’s Scholarly Contributions to the Study of the Northern Dynasties on the Occasion of his 90th Birthday, 2019
- Editorial Board, Early Medieval China, 2016-present
- Editorial Board, Tang Studies, 2016-present
Fellowship Evaluations
- American Philosophical Society, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Sabbatical Fellowship, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 grant cycles
- American Philosophical Society, Franklin Research Grant, 2010-2012, 2015
Preliminary Examination Committee External Member
- University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Anthropology-Field Museum of Natural History, Joint Ph.D. Program, Rory Dennison, Northwest China Archaeology, 2009
Tenure and Promotion Evaluations
- Rutgers University, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, 2017
- Kansas State University, Department of History, 2016
- New York University, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2008
- University of North Florida, Department of History, 2007
- Hofstra University, Department of Fine Arts, 2004
Publication Organizer
- “Civil Military Relations in Imperial China,” War and Society 18, no. 2 (2000).
Panel organizer
- “Slaves And/or Servants: Human Bondage in China’s States and Societies over the Longue Durée,” Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Washington, 2018
- "Monarchs, Martial Clients and Power in the Medieval Tang and Turkic Empires," Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Toronto, 2012
- “Cracking the Barbarian Mold: Shifting Identities on Imperial China's Northern Frontier,” American Historical Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 2002.
Peer reviews
- Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, manuscript review, 2019
- Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, manuscript review, 2019
- Artibus Asiae, manuscript review, 2018
- Tang Studies, manuscript reviews, 2013, 2016, 2018
- Journal of Chinese Studies, manuscript reviews, 2012, 2015, 2018
- Oxford University Press, book proposal review, 2018
- Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History, manuscript review, 2017
- Journal of Asian Studies, manuscript review, 2016
- Journal of Chinese History, manuscript review, 2016
- The History of the Family, manuscript review, 2016
- Journal of Arid Environments, manuscript review, 2013
- Cambridge University Press, book proposal review, 2012
- Sino-Platonic Papers, manuscript review, 2011
- Journal of World History, manuscript review, 2010
- Asia Major, manuscript review, 2008
- Norton, Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World, chapter review, 2005
- Longman Publishers, Patterns of World History, chapter review, 2004
- Greenwood Publishing Group, manuscript review, 2003
- Houghton Mifflin, The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History, chapter review, 2001
- McGraw Hill, Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past, chapter review, 2000
MAJOR EXTERNAL AND UNIVERSITY GRANTS
- Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program: Direct Access to the Muslim World. Author on behalf of the International Studies Program to bring an Egyptian scholar, Dr. Omaima Abou-Bakr, to campus, Oct. 30-Nov. 17, 2006.
- Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Technology Grant, lead author on behalf of History/Philosophy to purchase JSTOR Arts & Sciences Collections IX and X, journal databases, 2013.
- PASSHE Technology Grant, lead author on behalf of Economics, English, History/Philosophy, and Human Communication Studies to install computers and presentation units in 1 classroom in Dauphin Humanities Center, 2008-9.
- PASSHE Technology Grant, lead author on behalf of Economics, English, History/Philosophy, and Human Communication Studies to install computers and presentation units in 5 classrooms in Dauphin Humanities Center, 2007-8.
- PASSHE Technology Renewal Grant, lead author on behalf of English, History/Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology/Anthropology, and Speech/Theatre Arts to replace computers and projectors and install new document cameras in 9 classrooms in Dauphin Humanities Center, 2004-5.
- PASSHE Technology Grant, lead author on behalf of English, History/Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology/Anthropology, and Speech/Theatre Arts to install computers and presentation units in 9 classrooms in Dauphin Humanities Center, 2002-3.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Professor of History, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, Shippensburg, PA, Fall 2010-. Responsible for teaching courses in Chinese, Japanese and world history.
- Director of International Studies, 2004-2006, 2010-2017 (quarter time), 2017-2020 (half time)
- Associate Professor of History, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, 2004 to 2010.
- Assistant Professor of History, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, 1999 to 2004.
- Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Stetson
University, DeLand, FL, 1998-99. Taught courses in modern Chinese,
Japanese, and world history.
- Visiting Instructor in History, Kalamazoo
College, Kalamazoo, MI, Winter and Spring Quarters 1997. Taught courses
in East Asian Civilization and modern China.
- ESL Specialist, Roxbury Community College, Workers' Educational
Assistance Center, Boston, MA, 1989-90. Taught English to displaced Chinese
factory workers with low literacy in their native languages. Developed
model curriculum for the U. S. Department of Education to aid in the retraining
of factory workers with low English proficiency.
- Instructor, Cardinal Cushing Center, Boston, MA, 1986-1989. Responsible
for teaching all levels of English to adult Hispanics.
- Foreign Expert, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics,
Shanghai, China 1985-86. Taught oral English to freshman and sophomore
students. Lectured to staff on teaching methodology and to students on
cross-cultural relations.
- Foreign Teacher, Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, Shanghai,
China, 1984-85. Taught oral and written English to teachers and students.
Lectured to students on American life.
- Tutor, Center for Language and Orientation Programs, Boston University,
1983-84. Acted as oral language instructor to groups of six to eight foreign
students.
LANGUAGES
Research proficiency:
- Modern and Classical Chinese
- Classical Arabic
- Numismatic Middle Iranian
- Japanese
- French
Speaking proficiency:
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