Peter Kees Bol (; born 1948) is an American historian and

sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

. He is the Charles H. Carswell Professor of

East Asian Languages The East Asian languages are a language family (alternatively '' macrofamily'' or ''superphylum'') proposed by Stanley Starosta in 2001. The proposal has since been adopted by George van Driem and others. Classifications Early proposals Early ...

and Civilizations of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Since 2013, he has been a Vice Provost of Harvard with oversight of HarvardX and the Harvard Initiative in Learning and Teaching (HILT). He is the founding director of the Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis, and also directs the China Historical Geographic Information System (CHGIS) and the China Biographical Database (CBDB) project.

Biography

Peter Bol earned his Ph.D. in Chinese history from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1980. His main research focus is China's cultural elites during the Tang,

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

, Yuan, and

Ming The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, t ...

dynasties (from the 7th to the 17th century). He and William C. Kirby together teach ChinaX, a Harvard

massive open online course A massive open online course (MOOC ) or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the World Wide Web, Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and p ...

(MOOC) with a worldwide enrollment of more than 45,000 students. Bol has been a Vice Provost of

between 2013 and 2018. In this role, he oversaw HarvardX (open online learning) and the Harvard Initiative in Learning and Teaching (HILT). He is the founding director of the Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis, and also directs the China Historical Geographic Information System (in collaboration with

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

in Shanghai), and the China Biographical Database project (in collaboration with

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

in Taiwan and

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

Selected publications

*with Kidder Smith Jr., Joseph A. Adler, and Don J. Wyatt, ''Sung Dynasty Uses of the I-ching''. . Princeton University Press. 1990, 2014, 2016. *''This Culture of Ours: Intellectual Transitions in T'ang and Sung China''. . Stanford University Press. 1992. *coeditor with

Pauline Yu Pauline Yu (; born 1949) is an American scholar of Chinese literature and culture noted for her contributions to the study of classical Chinese poetry and comparative literature. She is also known for her research and advocacy on issues in the hu ...

, Stephen Owen, and

Willard Peterson Willard J. Peterson is an American historian and sinologist. He is Gordon Wu '58 Professor of Chinese Studies, Emeritus, and Professor of East Asian Studies and History, Emeritus at Princeton University. His research specialties include early Chi ...

, ''Ways with Words: Writing about Reading Texts from Early China''. . University of California Press. 2000. *''Neo-Confucianism in History''. . Harvard University Press. 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bol, Peter 1948 births Living people American sinologists Historians of China Harvard University faculty Princeton University alumni 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American male writers