John Williams has taught East Asian history at Colorado College (CC) since 2004. He was educated at Indiana University, Harvard University, and the University of California at Berkeley where he wrote his PhD dissertation on the Chinese civil service examinations and early eighteenth century political culture. Professor Williams has published on late imperial and twentieth century Chinese history.
Areas:
East Asian History, Late Imperial and Modern Chinese History, Popular Culture and Religion in 20th Century China
John Williams is an historian of early modern China whose work focuses on the political culture of the early Qing dynasty (1644-1911) as seen through the prism of the civil service examination system. He is also developing work on popular culture, folk religion and Communist mobilization in 1920s China. Courses taught at CC include: 20th Century China, 20th Century Japan, China in the Age of Confucius, and Civilization in East Asia. Topics courses have treated subjects from the Taiping Rebellion in 19th century China to fantasy and the fantastic in Chinese history and literature.