Peter J. Carroll

Peter J. Carroll is an Associate Professor of History at Northwestern University, specializing in late Qing and Republican China. He holds affiliations with the Asian Studies Program and Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. His research focuses on urban history, gender/sexuality, nationalism, and material culture in modern China.

Carroll earned his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1998. His scholarly work includes the award-winning book Between Heaven and Modernity: Reconstructing Suzhou, 1895-1937, which examines urban transformation in early modern China. He has held fellowships at institutions such as the National Humanities Center and NYU’s Project on Cities and Urban Knowledges.

His research interests span urban development, gender dynamics, and transnational exchanges. Current projects include a book on suicide and modernity in 20th-century China. Teaching specialties include modern Chinese history, gender studies, and urbanism.

• Awards: Urban History Association Best Book Award (2007), National Humanities Center Fellowship (2015)

Carroll advises graduate students in Asian history and has mentored at least one Ph.D. student now teaching at National Taiwan University. His work bridges historical analysis with lived experience, as seen in his reflections on interacting with historical figures like journalist Gu Zhizhong.