Associate Professor
About
Pär Cassel is an Associate Professor of Modern Chinese History in the Department of History, where he joined the faculty after earning his doctorate from Harvard University. Prof. Cassel's research primarily explores the legal, institutional, and intellectual history of China. He is especially interested in historical problems where international relations, jurisprudence, institutional history, and linguistics intersect.
His first book, Grounds of Judgement, examines extraterritoriality, treaty ports, and diplomacy in nineteenth-century China and Japan. Beyond his core focus on Chinese history, he has also contributed to the history of Swedish sinology. In this context, his research has delved into the history of the Wallenberg family, most notably the businessman and diplomat Gustaf Wallenberg, the grandfather of the famed humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg.
Prof. Cassel previously served a six-year term as the Director of Graduate Studies at the International Institute. He is also a committed advocate for open inquiry and intellectual pluralism. In this capacity, he served as a member of the Advisory Committee on the University of Michigan Principles on Diversity of Thought and Freedom of Expression in 2024. He is also co-chair for the Heterodox Academy Campus Community at U-M.
