David M. Robinson

Professor of History and Asian Studies at Colgate University (NY, USA), David Robinson explores questions of violence, court culture, foreign relations, historical memory, and the military in early modern Eurasia. His project in Department III considers the experiences of a Mongolian family that immigrated to China in the early fifteenth century and ended up serving the Ming throne until it fell in 1644, to explore the twin issues of ability and difference, especially—but never exclusively—as they relate to military affairs. His most recent book, Korea and the Fall of the Mongol Empire: Shifting Allies and the Rise of a New East Asian Order (forthcoming 2022), traces the experiences of Korea as a key ally, first to the Mongols, and then to the newly established Ming dynasty in China. He has held research fellowships at Princeton University, Kyoto University, Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton).