RICHARD W. BULLIET
Middle East Institute
Columbia University
420 West 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
(212) 854-1741; FAX (212) 854-1413; e-mail rwb3@columbia.edu
Education and Training
Harvard University
BA 1962 in History (magna cum laude)
MA 1964 in Middle East Studies
PhD 1967 in History and Middle East Studies
Employment
Columbia University
Professor of History, 1978-
Associate Professor of History, 1976-78
Associate Chairman, Department of History, 1979-82, 1983-85
Director, Middle East Institute, 1984-1990, 1993-2000
Chairman, Department of Anthropology, 1988-1990
Chairman, Executive Committee of Arts and Sciences Faculty, 1998-99
Columbia University Press--publication committee 1979-85, 1986-
chairman 1991-
member Board of Trustees 1991-
University of California at Berkeley
Lecturer in Near Eastern Languages and Studies, 1973-75
Harvard University
Assistant Professor of History, 1969-73
Instructor in History, 1967-69
Fellowships and Honors
Phi Beta Kappa, 1962
NDFL Fellowships (for Arabic and Turkish), 1962-1965
Honorary Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, 1962
Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship, 1965-66
Fulbright-Hays Fellowship, 1965-66
Harvard Center for Middle East Studies Research Fellowship, 1971-72
Guggenheim Fellow, 1975-76
Dexter Prize of the Society for the History of Technology for The Camel and the Wheel, 1977
American-Indian Commission Fellowship, 1990 (resigned)
Professional Service
Middle East Studies Association
Executive Secretary, 1977-81
Society for Iranian Studies
Member Board of Directors, 1967-68
Member Editorial Board of Iranian Studies, 1985-87
American Institute of Iranian Studies
Trustee at Large, 1977-82
Joint Committee on the Near and Middle East of the Social Science Research Council and American Council of Learned Societies, 1978-81
Joint Committee on the Comparative Study of Muslim Societies of the Social Science Research Council and American Council of Learned Societies, 1988-91
World History Pathfinder Project of The College Board, 1991-93
National Standards in World History committee of the National Center for the Study of History, 1992-93
Editorship
Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East, co-editor, Macmillan 1996, 4v.
Columbia Encyclopedia, chief consultant on history for fifth edition
Encyclopedia of Asian History, Associate Editor for Iran and Central Asia
Iranian Studies, Editor, 1987-91
Books
Non-fiction:
The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization, Columbia University Press, 2004
The Columbia History of the Twentieth Century, editor, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998 (translations into Chinese, Croatian, and Polish)
The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History, co-author, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997; third edition 2004
The Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East, co-editor, New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1996
Under Siege: Islam and Democracy, editor, The Middle East Institute, Columbia University, Occasional Papers 1, 1994
Islam: The View from the Edge, Columbia University Press, 1993
Crisis in the Middle East, supplementary high school current events book, Grolier, Inc., 1992
Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in Quantitative History, Harvard University Press, 1979; Persian translation, Tehran: Nashr-e Tarikh-e Iran, 1987
The Camel and the Wheel, Harvard University Press, 1975; Morninside Edition with new preface, Columbia University Press, 1990
The Patricians of Nishapur: A Study in Medieval Islamic Social History, Harvard University Press, 1972
Fiction:
The Sufi Fiddle, St. Martin's Press, 1991
The Gulf Scenario, St. Martin's Press, l984
The Tomb of the Twelfth Imam, Harper and Row, 1979
Kicked to Death by a Camel, Harper and Row, 1973 (under pen-name Clarence J.-L. Jackson; nominated for Edgar Award in the category Best First Mystery)
Articles
Academic:
1. "City Histories in Medieval Iran," Iranian Studies I (1968) 104-109
2. "A MuÔtazilite Coin of Mahmud of Ghazna," American Numismatic Society Museum Notes XV (1969) 119-129
3. "Le chameau et la roue au Moyen-Orient," Annales: conomies, Socits, Civilisations (1969) 1092-1103; English version published in Social Historians in Contemporary France: Essays from Annales, editors of Annales, Harper and Row, 1972
4. "A Quantitative Approach to Medieval Muslim Biographical Dictionaries," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient XIII (1970) 195-211. Arabic translation "Tariqa kamiyya li-dirasat mu'ajim at-tarajim al-islamiyya fi al-'usur al-wusta," Scientific Session 12, Islamic University of Medina, Saudi Arabia, 1404(1990)
5. "The Shaikh al-Islam and the Evolution of Islamic Society," Studia Islamica XXXV (1972) 53-67
6. "The Political-Religious History of Nishapur in the Eleventh Century," in D.S. Richards, ed., Islamic Civilization 950-1150, Oxford: Bruno Cassirer (1973) 71-91; Russian translation of entire book
7. "Numismatic Evidence for the Relationship between Tughril Beg and Chaghri Beg," in Near Eastern Numismatics, Iconography, Epigraphy and History: Studies in Honor of George C. Miles, ed. D.K. Kouymjian, Beirut (1974) 289-296
8. "Naw Bahar and the Survival of Iranian Buddhism," Iran XIV (1976) 140-145
9. "Medieval Nishapur: A Topographic and Demographic Reconstruction," Studia Iranica V (1976) 67-89; partial Persian translation by Ali Anvari, "Bazshenasi va jam'iyatshenasi-ye Nishapur-e qurun-i vosta'i," Ayandeh VIII/8 (1341) 512-520
10. "Debate: An Answer for Hichem Djat -- or Possibly a Question," Diogenes XCV (1976) 93-102
11. "First Names and Political Change in Modern Turkey," International Journal of Middle East Studies IX (1978) 489-495
12. "Local Politics in Eastern Iran under the Ghaznavids and Seljuks," Iranian Studies special issue entitled State and Society in Iran XI (1978) 35-56
13. "Conversion to Islam and the Emergence of a Muslim Society in Iran," in N. Levtzion, ed., Conversion to Islam: A Comparative Study of Islamization, New York: Holmes and Meier (1979) 30-51
14. "Sedentarization of Nomads in the Seventh Century: The Arabs in Basra and Kufa," in P.C. Salzman, ed., When Nomads Settle, New York: Bergin (1980) 35-47
15. "Botr et Barans: hypotheses sur l'histoire des Berbres," Annales: conomies, Socits, Civilisations (Jan.-Feb. 1981) 104-116; response to critique by G. Fiaccadori (Mar.-Apr. 1983) 475-6
16. "The Age Structure of Medieval Islamic Education," Studia Islamia 57 (1983), 105-117.
17. "Time, Perceptions and Conflict Resolution," in S. Tahir-Kheli and S. Ayubi, eds., The Iran-Iraq War: Old Conflicts, New Weapons New York: Praeger, 1983, 65-81
18. "Printing in the Medieval Islamic Underworld," Columbia Library Columns 36/3 (1987), 13-20
19. "Medieval Arabic Tarsh : A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Printing," Journal of the American Oriental Society, 107/3 (1987), 427-38
20-21. "Process and Status in Conversion and Continuity" and "Conversion Stories in Early Islam," in Michael Gervers and Ramzi Jibran Bikhazi, eds., Conversion and Continuity: Indigenous Christian Communities in Islamic Lands Eighth to Eighteenth Centuries Papers in Mediaeval Studies 9, Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1990, 1-12, 123-133
22-23. "Pottery Styles and Social Status in Medieval Khurasan," and "Annales and Archaeology," in A. Bernard Knapp, ed., Archaeology, Annales, and Ethnohistory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, 75-82, 131-134.
24. "Determinism and Pre-Industrial Technology," in Merritt Roe Smith and Leo Marx, Does Technology Drive History? The Dilemma of Technological Determinism, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1994, 201-215
25. "Orientalism and Medieval Islamic Studies," in John Van Engen, ed., The Past and Future of Medieval Studies, Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994
26. "The Individual in Islamic Society," in Irene Bloom et. al, eds., Religious Diversity and Human Rights, New York: Columbia University Press, 1996, pp. 175-191.
27. "Of Encyclopedias and the End of a World," Biblion. The Bulletin of The New York Public Library, 3/1 (Fall 1994), 49-58
28. "Islamic World to 1500," in Mary Beth Norton and Pamela Gerardi, eds., The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature, 3d ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, vol. 1, pp. 498-526.
29. "Comment on Iriye paper 'The G-3 World' and the Third World," in The Japan Foundation for Global Partnership, The End of the Century: The Future in the Past, Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1995, pp. 379-82.
30. ÒThemes, Conjunctures, and Comparisons,Ó in Heidi Roupp, ed., Teaching World History: A Resource Book, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1997, pp. 94-109.
31. ÒDay After Tomorrow: The Future of Islamic Movements,Ó Harvard International Review XIX/2 (Spring 1997), pp. 34-37, 66-67.
32. ÒTwenty Years of Islamic Politics,Ó the Middle East Journal, 53/2 (Spring 1999), pp. 189-200.
33-34. ÒEconomic Systems and TechnologiesÓ and ÒCommunication and TransportÓ in M. E. Bakhit, et al. Eds., History of Humanity: Scientific and Cultural Development. Volume IV, From the Seventh to the Sixteenth Century, Paris and London: UNESCO and Routledge, 2000, 71-83, 84-95.
35. ÒThe Crisis of Authority in Islam,Ó Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2002.
Journalism and Public Service:
1. "Why They Lost the Wheel," Aramco World XXIV (1973) 22-25
2. "Can Iran Attain Stability Under Religious Rule?" Newsday (Dec. 12, 1979) 63
3. "Camels," GEO II (April 1980) 34-54. Reprinted as "Let's Hear it for the Camel!" in Elizabeth Cowan, ed., Reading for Writing, Glenview: Scott, Foresman, 1983, pp. 97-101.
4. "Middle East Studies: The Bloom is Off the Rose," Humanities II/4 (August 1981) 3
5. "How the Camel Got its Saddle," Natural History XCII/7 (July 1983) 52-59
6. "Angling for the Spoils of Peace: Sudden U.S. Interest Unsettles All the Iran-Iraq War Watchers," (op-ed) Los Angeles Times Nov. 7, 1986, II/5
7. "Islam: Arabian Nights in a New Day," National Catholic Reporter Nov. 28, 1986, 9
8. "Gulf Conflict a Bomb without a Detonator," (op-ed) Boston Globe, Oct. 20, 1987. Same article under different title in Los Angeles Times on same date.
9. "The Heavy Burden We'll Shoulder," The Arizona Republic, Jan. 20, 1991; reprinted in Manchester Guardian
10. "A Government to Replace One-Man Rule," Newsday, Feb. 10, 1991
11. "Was it Worth All this Agony?" The Arizona Republic, April 14, 1991
12. "Scholarship in the Public Interest: Notes from a Soundbite," Gannett Center Journal, Spring-Summer 1991, 65-70
13. "Roots of Present Resurgence of Islam in Middle East," Kayhan International, August 29, 1991, p.6. Text of prepared testimony before the Middle East Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 22, 1991.
14. Verbatim testimony published in "Hearings before the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, 102nd Congress, 1st Session, April 22, 1991"
15. "Aggression in Historical Perspective," Farhang Rajaee, ed., The Iran-Iraq War, Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993.
16. "The Israeli-PLO Accord: The Future of the Islamic Movement," Foreign Affairs, 72/5 (1993).
17. "Li'l-mujtamaÔat al-islamiyya al-qudra Ôala taqrir masiriha wa'l-takayyuf maÔa al-zuruf al-mutaghayyara," Al-Wasat, no. 100. 12/27, p. 115.
18. "New Deal with Islamism," interview in Al-Ahram Weekly, 24-30 Nov., 1994, p. 16.
19. "The Revolution Within the Islamic Revolution," New York Newsday, "Currents" section, February 26, 1995.
20. ÒDemocratic Islamists,Ó Middle East Insight, Nov.-Dec. 2000, p.41.
1969
1. Francesco Gabrieli, "Muhammad and the Conquests of Islam," Speculum
1970(?)
2. Gaston Wiet, "Baghdad: Metropolis of the Abbasid Caliphate" (place of publication forgotten)
1971
3. A.H. Hourani and S.M. Stern, eds., "The Islamic City: A Colloquium," Speculum
4. M.A. Shaban, "The Abbasid Revolution," The Middle East Journal
1972(?)
5. Hassanein Rabie, "The Financial System of Egypt A.H. 564-741/A.D. 1169-1341," The Economic History Review
1973
6. Andrew S. Ehrenkreutz, "Saladin," The Middle East Journal
1974
7. John Masson Smith, Jr., "The History of the Sarbadar Dynasty, 1336-1381 A.D. and its Sources" (place of publication forgotten)
1976
8. S.D. Goitein, "A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza," vol. 2, "The Community," International Journal of Middle East Studies
9. S.D. Goitein, "Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders Translated from the Arabic with Introductions and Notes," International Journal of Middle East Studies
10. Abraham L. Udovitch, "Partnership and Profit in Medieval Islam," International Journal of Middle East Studies
11. Richard N. Frye, ed., "The Cambridge History of Iran," vol. 4, "The Period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs," Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
12. Andre Miquel, "La geographie humaine du monde musulman jusqu'au milieu du 11e siecle," vol. 1,
"Geographie et geographie humaine dans la litterature arabe des origines a 1050," vol. 2, "Geographie arabe et representation du monde: la terre et l'etranger," Speculum
1978
13. Michael W. Dols, "The Black Death in the Middle East," Speculum
14. Marshall G.S. Hodgson, "The Venture of Islam," Journal of the American Oriental Society
15. E. Ashtor, "A Social and Economic History of the Near East in the Middle Ages," Speculum
16. M.A. Shaban, "Islamic History: A New Intrepretation, vol. 2, A.D. 750-1055," International Journal of Middle East Studies
1979
17. Eskandar Beg Monshi, "History of Shah `Abbas the Great," translated by Roger M. Savory, Iranian Studies
1980
18. Peter Gran, "Islamic Roots of Capitalism: Egypt, 1760-1840," Africana Journal
1981
19. Jacob Lassner, "The Shaping of `Abbasid Rule," Speculum
20. M.M. Ahsan, "Social Life Under the Abbasids," Middle East Journal and Arab Studies Quarterly
21. Maxime Rodinson, "La fascination de l'Islam," Arab Studies Quarterly
22. Roger Savory, "Iran Under the Safavids," Arab Studies Quarterly
23. Hilde Gauthier-Pilters and Anne Innis Dagg, "The Camel: Its Evolution, Behavior, and Relationship to Man," Middle East Journal
1982
24. Arnold H. Green, "The Tunisian Ulama 1873-1915," Journal of the American Oriental Society
25. Andrew C. Hess, "The Forgotten Frontier: A History of the Sixteenth Century Ibero-African Frontier," Journal of the American Oriental Society
26. Marilyn Robinson Waldman, "Toward a Theory of Historical Narrative: A Case Study in Perso-Islamicate Historiography," International Journal of Middle East Studies
27. Elizabeth Monroe, "Britain's Moment in the Middle East 1914-71," new and revised edition, Political Science Quarterly
28. Kathryn Tidrick, "Heart-Beguiling Araby," The South Atlantic Quarterly
29. Michael E. Bonine and Nikki R. Keddie, eds., "Modern Iran: The Dialectics of Continuity and Change," Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
30. Patricia Crone, "Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity," Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
1983
31. Bernard Lewis, "The Muslim Discovery of Europe," American Historical Review
32. Simha Sabari, "Mouvements populaires a Bagdad a l'poque `abbaside IXe-XIe siecles," Speculum
33. A.K.S. Lambton, "Theory and Practice in Medieval Persian Government," Iranian Studies
1984
34. Daniel Pipes, "In the Path of God: Islam and Political Power," Middle East Journal
1985
35. Andrew M. Watson, "Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World: The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700-1100," Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
36. Joel L. Kraemer and Ilai Alon, eds., "Religion and Government in the World of Islam," Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
37. Yusuf Khass Hajib, "Wisdom of Royal Glory (Kutadgu Bilig): A Turko-Islamic Mirror for Princes," tr. Robert Dankoff, Speculum
38. Eliyahu Ashtor, "Levant Trade in the Later Middle Ages," Canadian Journal of History
39. Shaul Bakhash, "The Reign of the Ayatollahs: Iran and the Islamic Revolution," Political Science Quarterly
40. A. A. Duri, "The Rise of Historical Writing Among the Arabs," tr. Lawrence I. Conrad, Middle East Journal
1986
41. Stuart Piggott, "The Earliest Wheeled Transport: From the Atlantic Coast to the Caspian Sea," Technology and Culture
42. Ehsan Yar-Shater, ed., "The History of al-Tabari (Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'l-muluk)," vol. XXVII "The 'Abbasid Revolution," tr. John Alden Williams; vol. XXXV "The Crisis of the 'Abbasid Caliphate," tr. George Saliba; vol. XXXVIII "The Ret
urn of the Caliphate to Baghdad," tr. Franz Rosenthal, Middle East Journal
1987
43. Juan R.I. Cole and Nikki Keddie, "Shi'ism and Social Protest," Political Science Quarterly
44. Patrticia Crone, "Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam," International Journal of Islamic and Arabic Studies
45. G.R. Hawting, "The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661-750," Middle East Journal
46. Adid Dawisha, "Arab Radicalism," Journal of Palestine Studies
1988
47. Peter Jackson and Laurence Lockhart, eds., "The Cambridge History of Iran," Volume 6, "The Timurid and Safavid Periods," American Historical Review
48. Habib Jaouiche, "The Histories of Nishapur by 'Abdalgafir al-Farisi (Siyaq Ta'rih Naisabur). Register der Personen- und Ortsnamen," Journal of the American Oriental Society
49. Ahmad Y. al-Hassan and Donard R. Hill, "Islamic Technology," Technology Review
1989
50. David Pryce-Jones, "The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs," Journal of Palestine Studies
51. Gary Leiser, tr. and ed., "A History of the Seljuks: Ibrahim Kafesoglu's Interpretation and the Resulting Controversy," Middle Ezst Studies Association Bulletin
52. Jacob Lassner, "Islamic Revolution and Historical Memory," American Historical Review
1990
53. Ira M. Lapidus, "A History of Muslim Societies," The American Historical Review
54. C.E. Bosworth, Charles Issawi, Roger Savory, and A.L. Udovitch, eds., "The Islamic World from Classical to Modern Times: Essays in Honor of Bernard Lewis," Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
55. Majid Khadduri, "The Gulf War," The American Historical Review
1991
56. Janet L. Abu-Lughod, "Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350," American Historical Review
57. Mahmood Ibrahim, "Merchant Capital and Islam," International Journal of Islamic and Arabic Studies
1992
58. Abd al-Ghafir al-Farisi, "Al-halqa al-ula min ta'rikh naisabur: al-muntakhab min al-siyaq," ed. Muhammad Kazim al-Mahmudi, Middle East Medievalists Newsletter
59. Ehsan Yarshater, ed., "Encyclopaedia Iranica," vol. 3, International Journal of Middle East Studies.
1993
60. Mark J. Gasiorowski, "U.S. Foreign Policy and the Shah: Building a Client State in Iran," Political Science Quarterly
61. Rachel Ari, "tudes sur la civilisation de l'Espagne musulmane," Journal of Islamic Studies
62. John L. Esposito, "The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?," Journal of Palestine Studies
63. Jacqueline Sublet, "Le Voile du nom," Journal of the American Oriental Society
1994
64. Christian Dcobert, "Le mendiant et le combattant. L'institution de l'Islam," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
65. Salma Khadra Jayyusi, "The Heritage of Muslim Spain," Journal of Islamic Studies
66. John R. Bowen, "Muslims Through Discourse: Religion and Ritual in Gayo Society," Journal of Islamic Studies
67. Susan Sherwin-White & Amlie Kuhrt, "From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire," International Journal of Middle East Studies
1995
68. Michael Field, "Inside the Arab World," New York Times Book Review (3/5)
69. Richard Eaton, "The Rise of Islan and the Bengal Frontier," American Historical Review
70. Barnett R. Rubin, "The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the International System," Newsletter. Southern Asia Institute, Columbia University
71. Ann Zwicker Kerr, "Come with Me from Lebanon: An American Family Odyssey," culturefront
72. Paul Salem, "Bitter Legacy: Ideology and Politics in the Arab World," culturefront
73. Peter Christensen, "The Decline of Iranshahr: Irrigation and Environments in the History of the Middle East, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1500," International Journal of Middle East Studies
1996
74. Cemal Kafadar, "Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State," The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
1997
75. Robert J. Allison, "The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, 1776-1815," The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
1999
32. Heinz Halm, ÒThe Empire of the Mahdi: The Rise of the Fatimids,Ó The Historian
33. Paul Shepard, ÒComing Home to the Pleistocene,Ó Worldviews 4, 1-19
2000
34. Bernard Lewis, "The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years," International Journal of Middle East Studies
35. Efraim Karsh and Inari Karsh, ÒEmpires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East, 1789-1923,Ó The Middle East Journal
2001
36. R. Stephen Humphreys, ÒBetween Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age,Ó The International History Review, 23/1 (March 2001)
To Appear
37. Wadad al-Qadi, ed., "Studia Arabica et Islamica: Festschrift for Ihsan 'Abbas on his Sixtieth Birthday," al-Abhath
38. Said Amir Arjomand, "The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam," Journal of the American Oriental Society
39. Maya Shatzmiller, "Labour in the Medieval Islamic World," Journal of Social History
40. Fred M. Donner, ÒNarratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing,Ó Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
41. Xinru Liu, ÒSilk and Religion: An Exploration of Material Life and the Thought of People, AD 600-1200,Ó
42. Suliman Bashear, ÒArabs and Others in Early Islam,Ó Der Islam
43. Fred Halliday, ÒNation and Religion in the Middle East,Ó Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
44. Maya Shatzmiller, ÒThe Berbers and the Islamic State: The Marinid Experience in Pre-Protectorate Morocco,Ó The International History Review
TELEVISION
Host/Narrator and Script Consultant for The Middle East, 14 half-hour films produced and written by Denise Boiteau and David Stansfield for TVOntario, Toronto, Canada, 1984.
Approximately 250 appearances commenting on current Middle Eastern affairs for local and national news media including The MacNeill-Lehrer Report, The Today Show, The CBS Morning News, and Larry King Live