Nicola Di Cosmo headshot

Nicola Di Cosmo

Luce Foundation Professor in East Asian Studies
School of Historical Studies

East Asian Studies

Affiliation

Historical Studies

Nicola Di Cosmo received his Ph.D. from the Department of Uralic and Altaic Studies (now Central Eurasian Studies) at Indiana University in 1991, and held research and teaching positions at the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) before joining the Institute for Advanced Study in 2003. His main field of research is the history of the relations between China and Inner Asia from prehistory to the modern period. Within that broad area he has published on the early history of China’s relations with steppe nomads (e.g., Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Powers in East Asian History, 2002) and on Mongol and Manchu history (e.g., Manchu-Mongol Relations on the Eve of the Qing Conquest, 2003), and he has edited several books, including Military Culture in Imperial China (2009) and The Cambridge History of Inner Asia (2009). His most recent works explore the use of proxy data from climatology and other palaeosciences in the study of the history of China and Central Asia, with special reference to early Eurasian nomads, the Mongol empire, and the Qing dynasty.

Dates at IAS

Faculty
School of Historical Studies
Member
School of Historical Studies
Spring

Degrees

Indiana University
Ph.D.
1991
Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia
B.A.
1982

Honors

2001
New Zealand Royal Society, Marsden Fund Grant
1995
Harvard University, Milton Fund Grant for Research in the People’s Republic of China
1992
Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, Research Fellowship
1990
Center for Chinese Studies, Taipei, Research Grant and Residency at Academia Sinica
1988
Institute of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Rome, Research Grant to study at the Research Institute of Asian and African Cultures, Tokyo

Appointments

University of Canterbury
1999–2003
Senior Lecturer
Harvard University
1993–1999
Associate Professor 1998–99, Assistant Professor 1993–97
Indiana University
1992–1993
Visiting Lecturer and Rockefeller Fellow
University of Cambridge
1989–1992
Research Fellow