Professor Emeritus of Iranian and Central Asian History, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and the College
Prof. Woods has retired and no longer directs BA theses or accepts new graduate students.
PhD'74 Princeton University
Mailing Address
The University of Chicago
Department of History
1126 E. 59th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Field Specialties
Islamic history, Iranian history, Central and South Asian history, Middle Eastern studies
Biography
Professor Woods focuses primarily on the history of Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia from the thirteenth to eighteenth century. He is particularly interested in aspects of the encounter of sedentary and nomadic people in those regions during that time period. He is at present working on several projects dealing with the age of Chinggis Khan and Timur (Tamerlane). He has played a central role in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies since 1980.
Publications
The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire, revised and expanded edition. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1999.
Fadlullah Khunji-Isfahani's Tarikh-i Alam-ara-yi Amini. Persian text edited by John E. Woods with an abridged English translation by Vladimir Minorsky, revised and augmented by John E. Woods. London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1992 [released 1993].
"Timur's Genealogy." In Intellectual Studies on Islam: Essays Written in Honor of Martin B. Dickson, edited by Michel M. Mazzaoui and Vera B. Moreen. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1990.
The Timurid Dynasty. Papers on Inner Asia No. 14. Bloomington: Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, 1990.
"The Rise of Timurid Historiography." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 48 (1987).
News
—Appears in the 2016 documentary, "The Tomb of Genghis Khan: The Secret Revealed"
—Awarded 2014 Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
—Awarded the Farabi International Award by UNESCO and the Iranian Government for Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire, revised edition (Utah, 1999)
