Doctoral Candidate in History
About
Christopher DeCou is a sixth-year doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan and a historian of science, technology, and medicine with a focus on cross-cultural exchanges in late imperial China. He is completing his dissertation, titled “The Stars in Their Eyes”. The project begins with material objects like clocks, sundials, and calendars and examines social networks of artisans and scholars, the market for communicating time, cultures of precision, the management of everyday life, and the myriad ways in which these instruments and tools placed the Qing dynasty within a unique position in the global history of science. Christopher previously attended the University of Chicago where he completed his masters in 2013 and before that graduated in 2011 with his bachelors in Medieval and Early Modern Studies and Asian Studies from the University of Michigan.
In addition to academia, Christopher has taught in international schools around the world and written for various outlets, including Slate, Narratively, and the Public Domain Review.
