Keith Knapp

Dr. Keith Knapp is a Professor of History at The Citadel, specializing in East Asian and medieval Chinese history. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and teaches courses on pre-modern China, Japanese history, and Confucian thought. His research explores cultural and social dynamics in early medieval China (100–600 CE), focusing on religious values, human-animal relationships, and utopian ideals.

Knapp serves as Chair of the Southeast Early China Roundtable and former President of the Early Medieval China Group. He maintains the China Roundtable listserv, connecting over 420 global scholars. His notable works include Selfless Offspring: Filial Children and Social Order in Medieval China (2005) and co-editing The Cambridge History of China, Volume Two: The Six Dynasties 220–589 (2019). He currently edits Cultural History of Confucianism in Medieval China for Bloomsbury Academic.

Knapp’s research spans topics like filial piety, religious symbolism, and social hierarchies. His articles analyze themes such as imperial capital soundscapes, medieval moral narratives, and penal-military systems. He actively contributes to academic organizations like the T’ang Studies Society and Elling Eide Center.

As a teacher, he offers graduate courses on East Asian historiography and non-Western world history. His work bridges textual analysis with material culture studies, examining artifacts like spirit jars and literary accounts to illuminate medieval Chinese society.