Scott Levi, professor in the Department of History, was named chair of the department, effective July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2022.

Levi is a historian focusing on the socio-economic history of early modern Central Asia. His areas of expertise also include Islamic history, world history, comparative empires and religion in history. Recent books Levi has authored include The Rise and Fall of Khoqand, 1709-1876: Central Asia in the Global Age and Caravans: Indian Merchants on the Silk Road. His current project, Early Modern Connections: Global Integration and the 18th-Century Bukharan Crisis, analyzes the various ways early modern globalizing processes contributed to the collapse of the Bukharan Khanate, a Central Asian state that dominated regional politics from the early 16th century into the 18th century.

Levi earned his PhD in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received Ohio State’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2011, and he spent the 2016-17 academic year as a residential fellow at the Institut d’Études Avancées de Nantes in France.

Levi is deeply honored to have been appointed chair, and said he is eager to develop new linkages with other units on campus while advancing the Department of History’s achievements in research excellence and pedagogical innovation.