معرفی
Peter Thilly is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Mississippi, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and the Department of History. He holds a Ph.D. in History from Northwestern University (2015) and serves as Director of the Interdisciplinary Minor in East Asian Studies. His research spans Qing and Republican Chinese history, Japanese and British imperialism, migration studies, and comparative legal cultures.
- Education: Ph.D. in History, Northwestern University (2015)
Thilly’s work examines the intersection of crime, economics, and state-building in modern China. His acclaimed book The Opium Business (2022) analyzes the opium trade’s evolution from contraband to financial pillar for regimes. He has published in Late Imperial China and Cross-Currents, with articles like "Opium and the Origins of Treason" (2017) and "The Fujitsuru Mystery" (2017, 2018), which explore drug trafficking’s role in shaping legal-political frameworks across maritime Asia.
Recent publications include the 2023 article "OpiuM for the Masses" and contributions to the digital history project Bodies and Structures 2.0. His work engages with global capitalism, colonial expansionism, and diaspora dynamics, particularly in coastal Fujian and Taiwan.
Thilly teaches courses on East Asian history, premodern China, modern Japanese history, and specialized topics like "Crime and Punishment in Modern China." He remains actively involved in interdisciplinary initiatives, including co-editing the special issue "Taiwan: Global Island" (2019) for Cross-Currents.
