All News

Thomas Wilson, the Elizabeth J. McCormack Professor of History, presented a talk on conceptions of heaven and god in Confucian ritual discourse on April 17 at the University of Rochester.

Thomas Wilson, the Elizabeth J. McCormack Professor of History, presented “Conceptions of Heaven and God in the Imperial Cults of China” on Feb. 11 at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. His discussion focused on a cult devoted to the veneration of heaven practiced by the emperor of China and an entourage of court officials from the seventh century to the fall of imperial China in 1911.

Thomas Wilson, the Elizabeth J. McCormack Professor of History, presented a paper titled “The Imperial Cult of Heaven-God” on a panel at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association on Jan. 4 in New York. 

Thomas Wilson, the Elizabeth J. McCormack Professor of History, was elected to a three-year term as president of the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions (SSCR)

Dean of Faculty Patrick D. Reynolds announced the appointment of four of Hamilton’s most outstanding teacher-scholars to endowed chairs. Professor of Philosophy A. Todd Franklin, Professor of Biology Jinnie M. Garrett, Professor of  Environmental Studies Todd W. Rayne and Professor of History Thomas A. Wilson were appointed, effective July 1.

Professor of History Thomas Wilson was awarded a fellowship for a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) summer seminar on Daoism.

The Chinese translation of Lives of Confucius (Doubleday), a book to be published by Professor of History Thomas Wilson and co-author Michael Nylan of the University of California, Berkeley, passed external review by The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press (CUHK).

Professor of History Thomas Wilson spoke about Confucian philosophy has influenced modern Chinese cuisine and how “…Confucius has become a brand in a sense," in an article in the Chicago Tribune. In “Philosophy influenced Chinese cuisine,” published on Jan. 10, Wilson summarized the trend.  "It's marketable, and Confucius is the friendly face of civility that kind of replaces the scary face of Mao in past days."

Professor of History Thomas Wilson spoke about the “Confucius cuisine” dining trend in China in an Agence France-Presse (AFP) article titled “Confucius makes comeback at Chinese tables.” The Sept. 11 article addressed how the new fine-dining trend “reflects how the ruling Communist party -- which long saw the sage as a reactionary force -- has drafted him into its modern campaign to boost what President Xi Jinping has called China's ‘cultural soft power.’”

Professor of History Thomas Wilson presented a paper on Confucian rituals at a conference on the “Spiritual and Intellectual World of 16th- and 17th-century China.”