Peter Holquist

Peter Holquist is the Ronald S. Lauder Endowed Term Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts & Sciences. His work focuses on Russian and European history, with specialization in tsarist and Soviet eras, military history, and international law. He authored Making War, Forging Revolution: Russia's Continuum of Crisis, 1914-1921 (2002) and co-edited After The Fall: Essays In Russian And Soviet Historiography (2004). Holquist founded and edited Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History for a decade, earning the 2010 Distinguished Editor Award. His current project, By Right of War, examines Russia's role in shaping international law of war norms during 19th-20th centuries, analyzing military occupations in Bulgaria/Anatolia (1877-78), Manchuria (1900-1901), and WWI territories.

Education: PhD (Distinction) in History from Columbia University (1995); BA in History and Slavic Studies from Indiana University Bloomington (High Distinction). Prior to UPenn, taught at Cornell University (1997-2006). Courses include Imperial Russia, Soviet Century, World War I, and seminars on Anna Karenina's era.

Research interests emphasize continuity between war mobilization and revolutionary practices, legal frameworks in imperial contexts, and occupation policies. Recent scholarship explores intersections between normative legal principles and wartime realities. Awards include 2018 Ira H. Abrams Teaching Award and 2017 Richard S. Dunn Award.

Advises graduate students in Russian/Soviet history and European modern history. Active in Penn Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies Group. Current projects bridge intellectual history of international law with military-political analysis of Russian imperialism.