Joseph Dennis

Joseph Dennis is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, where he has held leadership roles as Director of Graduate Studies and Director of the Center for East Asian Studies. He is actively involved in the Society for Ming Studies, serving as President and Secretary. His research focuses on Chinese print culture, law, and society, with a particular emphasis on local gazetteers and digital humanities methodologies. Dennis is affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin, where he collaborates on projects like the Books in China Database, a digital tool analyzing over 30,000 books using geographic and temporal data from local gazetteers.

His work bridges historical analysis and digital innovation, exemplified by his 2015 book Writing, Publishing, and Reading Local Gazetteers in Imperial China, 1100–1700, which explores gazetteer production and circulation. Current projects include studying School Library Book Collections in Ming, Qing, and Republican China, leveraging MPIWG’s LoGaRT software. His research emphasizes spatial and temporal visualization of cultural artifacts, contributing to transnational understandings of Chinese intellectual history.

Dennis has presented at international conferences, including events at Nankai University and the Max Planck Institute, and has engaged with digital humanities tools to democratize access to historical sources. His work reflects a commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and the global dissemination of East Asian studies.