I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago studying under the direction of Prof. John E. Woods. My previous education was completed at Truman State University, where I studied medieval European and East Asian history, and at the University of Chicago’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. I am an historian of medieval and premodern Central Eurasia with particular interests in the history of gunpowder and gunpowder weapons, networks of exchange, and the Mongol Empire. Primarily interested in undergraduate teaching, I am currently serving as preceptor for NELC undergraduates, advising students through completion of their BA thesis projects. In the spring of 2017, I will teach a course for the Oriental Institute called The Khan and the Emperor: Genghis, Khubilai and the Mongol Empire.

Mick Bechtel