"Inner Eurasia and the Chinggisid Mobilization Machine"

Speaker: Dr. David Christian

Time: 4:30 P.M., Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Location: Room 305, Languages Building, Duke University, Durham, NC

Sponsored by: Duke University Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies

Dr. Christian defines Inner Eurasia and argues that there is a long-term coherence to the region's history.  He will discuss some structural features of the Mongol Empire and raise the question of whether or not similar features persisted in the histories of later imperial powers in Inner Eurasia.

Professor David Christian teaches in the Department of History at San Diego State University.  He is also currently a fellow at the National Humanities Center. Dr. Christian earned his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Oxford University and subsequently taught in Australia before moving to San Diego State in 2002.  He has written extensively on Russian history and is currently working on the successor volume to his 1998 book, History of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia: Inner Eurasia from Prehistory to the Mongol Empire (History of the World , Vol 1).  His other books on Russian history include Bread and salt : a social and economic history of food and drink in Russia (1984); Living water : Vodka and Russian society on the eve of emancipation (1990); and Imperial and Soviet Russia : power, privilege, and the challenge of modernity (1997).

One of the founding figures of the "Big History" movement, Dr. Christian is also the author of Maps of time: an introduction to big history (2004, foreword by William H. McNeill), which is a world history beginning with the Big Bang.

For additional information, please contact Caleb Baker at caleb_baker@unc.edu.