Valerie Hansen

Stanley Woodward Professor of History

Council on East Asian Studies , Buddhist Studies Initiative, Council on Middle East Studies, Program in Iranian Studies

Research Interests:

China to 1600; Chinese Religious and Legal History; Social History of the Silk Road

Humanities Quadrangle, Room 238

Phone: 203-432-0480

valerie.hansen@yale.edu

Website

Courses

China from Present to Past

HIST 1421, EAST 2301

Underlying causes of current issues facing China traced back to their origins in the premodern period. Topics include economic development, corruption, environmental crises, gender, and Pacific island disputes.

Selected primary-source readings in English, images, videos, and Web resources. Preference given to first years and sophomores.

Lecture

Spring 2027

T,Th 2:35 PM - 3:25 PM

Documents in Tang, Song, and Yuan Dynasties

HIST 8531

A survey of the historical genres of premodern China: the dynastic histories, other chronicles, gazetteers, literati notes, and Buddhist and Daoist canons. How to determine what different information these sources contain for research topics in different fields.

Prerequisite: at least one term of classical Chinese.

Seminar

Fall 2026

T 9:25 AM - 11:20 AM

Song-Dynasty China (960–1276): Modern Before Europe?

HIST 0445

This seminar is intended for first-year students with no background in Chinese history. Introducing the study of history at the university level (which differs considerably from the memorization of high school history classes), this course emphasizes the analysis of primary sources in translation and the close reading of secondary sources to help students generate meaningful questions. The topic is the Song dynasty (960-1276), a time when China was arguably more modern than the world's other societies.

Enrollment limited to first-year students.

Fall 2026

T,Th 11:35 AM - 12:50 PM

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Publications

The Silk Road

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