Department Faculty

“My research has focused on the history of the Protestant Reformation, Catholic Renewal, anti-Semitism, and the encounter between Europe and Asia. My current book project, tentatively titled Translating Christianity: China and the Catholic Missions 1584-1780, is a study of the history of cultural encounter between Counter-Reformation Europe and the Ming and Qing empires. “I teach courses in early modern Europe and am interested in developing world history and comparative history courses for the early modern period. I am especially interested in the history of religion and the history of empires. After working on the history of Central Europe for more than twenty years, during which time I have published extensively on the Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and the history of anti-semitism, I have widened the horizon of my research to a global perspective. Thus, the history of explorations, the rise of western Europe, the comparative history of early modern empires, and the history of Christian missions (particularly in China) constitute my current teaching and research agenda. With a background in Chinese history and culture, being born and educated in Hong Kong, I studied primarily in the UK and the USA, and have extensive research experiences in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal, Austria, and Italy. ”