Indiana University Bloomington
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Inner Asian & Uralic National Resource Center (IAUNRC) Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies (SRIFIAS) Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region (CeLCAR) Summer Language Workshop (SWSEEL)

Christopher P. Atwood :: Faculty

Picture of Christopher Atwood

Associate Professor, Central Eurasian Studies
Adjunct Associate Professor, History

Office: Goodbody Hall 157
Phone: (812) 855-2233
E-mail: catwood@indiana.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Ph.D., Indiana University, 1994
BA, Harvard, 1982

Current Doctoral Students

Research Interests

almost anything Mongolian, but currently I am focused on the intersection of lineage-building, state-building, and history-writing in the Mongol empire. I also have a strong interest, currently undeveloped, in seeing demographic, economic, and climate-historical methodologies applied to Mongolian history.

Personal Statement

I am working on two manuscripts, both of which I hope will become books. One, titled The Campaigns of Chinggis Khan and the Veritable Records of the Mongol Emperors, is a translation and textual study of "Campaigns of Chinggis Khan", a Mongolian source which has survived only in Chinese and Persian translations, and its place in the historiography of the Mongol Yuan empire. The second, titled, The Tribal Mirage: Khans, Pastures, and Families in Central Eurasia is a social historical investigation that questions the idea of "tribes" and "kin-based society" among the nomads of the Eurasian steppes.

Courses Recently Taught

Publication Highlights

Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, (New York:  Facts on File) 2004

Young Mongols and Vigilantes in Inner Mongolia's Interregnum Decades 1911-1931, (Brill, 2002)

"The Date of the 'Secret History of the Mongols' Reconsidered." Journal of Song and Yuan Studies 37 (2007), 1-48.

"Ulus Emirs, Keshig Elders, Signatures, and Marriage Partners: The Evolution of a Classic Mongol Institution" and "Titles, Appanages, Marriages, and Officials: A Comparison of Political Forms in the Zünghar and Thirteenth Century Mongol Empires" both in Imperial Statecraft: Political Forms And Techniques Of Governance In Inner Asia, Sixth-Twentieth Centuries, ed. David Sneath. Bellingham: Western Washington University, 2006, pp. 141-173 and 207-242.

"State Service, Lineage and Locality in Hulun Buir," East Asian History, no. 30 (Dec., 2005), 5-22.

Honors and Awards