Expertise
Professor Chittick is in charge of the East Asian Studies program. He teaches courses in Chinese and Japanese history and cultural traditions, as well as global maritime history. Professor Chittick’s research focus is the culture of early south China and maritime trade relations with Southeast Asia. He runs the Asia & Environment Initiative which engages students in summer fieldwork on contemporary environmental issues in Japan, China, and Indonesia. Other interests include Asian food cultures, Silk Road and maritime archaeology, and global comparative and spatial history. Professor Chittick is a recent holder of major fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at NYU. He is the author of two books, Patronage and Community in Medieval China and The Jiankang Empire in Chinese and World History, as well as a substantial StoryMap website, Maritime Asia in the Third Century CE.