Nicola Di Cosmo
Luce Foundation
Professor in East
Asian Studies
School of Historical
Studies

Nicola Di Cosmo works on the history of the relations between China and Inner Asia from prehistory to the modern period. He specializes in the cultural, political and military history of China’s northern frontiers and in the traditions of Inner Asian peoples, in particular ancient nomads, Mongols, and Manchus. His work is based largely on archeological materials for the ancient period, and on Mongolian and Manchu documents for the modern period.  Some of his favorite topics are the historiography of frontiers, the political culture of Inner Asian nomads, and questions of historical method in the study of Chinese dynasties of foreign origin.  Recent publications include Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Powers in East Asian History (2002),  Manchu-Mongol Relations on the Eve of the Qing Conquest (2003), and The Diary of a Manchu Soldier in Seventeenth-Century China (2006).

Ph.D. Indiana University, 1991; Cambridge University Mongolia and Inner Asian Studies Unit, Research Fellow, 1989-92; Indiana University, Rockefeller Fellow in Inner Asian Studies, 1992-93; Harvard University, Assistant and Associate Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History, 1993-99; University of Canterbury (New Zealand), Senior Lecturer in Chinese History, 1999-2003; Institute for Advanced Study, Visiting Member, 1999, Luce Foundation Professor in East Asian Studies, 2003-.