Dr. Maya Jasanoff

Biography

Maya Jasanoff is an accomplished historian with a focus on the British Empire and global history. She is the author of several award-winning books. Her notable work, 'Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World' (Penguin Press, 2017), examines the dynamics of modern globalization through the life of novelist Joseph Conrad. 'Dawn Watch' won the Cundill Prize in History and was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize in Biography. Another significant publication, 'Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World' (Knopf, 2011), explores the global history of loyalists who fled the United States during the American Revolution and resettled throughout the British Empire, receiving accolades including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Non-Fiction and the George Washington Book Prize. Her work 'Edge of Empire: Lives, Culture, and Conquest in the East, 1750-1850' (Knopf, 2005) dives into British expansion, examining the lives of art collectors in India and Egypt. Jasanoff currently holds the position of X.D. Nancy Yang Professor at Harvard University and enjoys teaching courses that combine narrative and history. Her recent research includes a focus on ancestry and connections between fiction and historical writing, and she has earned recognition as a Guggenheim Fellow and participated in significant cultural projects.

Research Interests