Robert P.W. Hymes

Robert P.W. Hymes is the Carpentier Professor of Chinese History at Columbia University's Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures. His research spans the social and cultural history of Middle-Period and early modern China, integrating methods from cultural anthropology and local history.

• BA from Columbia College (1972)
• MA (1975) and PhD (1979) from University of Pennsylvania

Research focuses on elite culture, family and kinship systems, medicine, religion, gender, and the evolution of Chinese social networks across ten to seventeenth centuries. His work emphasizes comparative approaches between China and Europe.

Key publication trends include analysis of divinity models in Chinese religious practices, Sung dynasty elite social structures, and cross-cultural historical comparisons. His monographs received the Joseph Levenson Prize for pre-1900 China studies.

Awards include:

• Joseph Levenson Prize (Association for Asian Studies) for best book on pre-1900 China (twice awarded)

Teaches courses like Approaches to East Asian Studies, The Family in Chinese History, and Topics in the Middle Period of Chinese History. Advisees include graduate students (PhD and Master's) in East Asian studies.