Bio
Robert D. Crews is an historian whose research and teaching interests focus on Afghanistan, Central and South Asia, Russia, Islam, and Global History. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he received an MA from Columbia University and a PhD degree in History from Princeton University.
He is the author of Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2015) and For Prophet and Tsar: Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia (Harvard University Press, 2006) and co-editor of Under the Drones: Modern Lives in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Borderlands (Harvard University Press, 2012) and The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan (Harvard University Press, 2008). His work has also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The New York Times.
A 2009 Carnegie Scholar, Crews received the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching for First Years of Teaching, 2006-2007, the El Centro Chicano Faculty Appreciation Award in 2011, and the Stanford College Prep Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award, Summer 2012.
His course offerings in 2018-2019 include “The Global Drug Wars,” “Russian Rebels,” "Religion, Violence, and Empire," and an Introductory Seminar, "Terrorism."
Academic Appointments
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Professor, History
Administrative Appointments
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Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dept. of History, Stanford University (2010 - 2013)
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Director, Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, Stanford University (2010 - 2013)
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Director, Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University (2013 - 2016)
Honors & Awards
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Carnegie Scholar, Carnegie Corporation (2009)
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Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching for First Years of Teaching, Stanford University (2006-2007)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Afghanistan: A Very Short Introduction (book manuscript co-authored with Wazhmah Osman, under contract with Oxford University Press).
Muslims from the Margins: The Politics of Islam in a Global Age (book manuscript – a history of the politics of Muslim minority communities in Mexico, Ghana, India, Russia, and Northern Ireland)
The Afghan Shia: A Revolutionary Minority (book manuscript)
2019-20 Courses
- Research Seminar for Majors
HISTORY 209S (Spr) - Terrorism
HISTORY 3N (Aut) - The Global Drug Wars
HISTORY 201A, HISTORY 301A (Spr) - The Islamic Republics: Politics and Society in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan
HISTORY 187 (Aut) - The Islamic Republics: Politics and Society in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan
HISTORY 87 (Aut) -
Independent Studies (8)
- Curricular Practical Training
HISTORY 299F (Sum) - Directed Reading in International Relations
INTNLREL 197 (Aut) - Graduate Directed Reading
HISTORY 399W (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Graduate Research
HISTORY 499X (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Senior Research I
HISTORY 299A (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Research II
HISTORY 299B (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Research III
HISTORY 299C (Win, Spr) - Undergraduate Directed Research and Writing
HISTORY 299S (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
- Curricular Practical Training
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Prior Year Courses
2018-19 Courses
- Global History: The Modern Age
HISTORY 1C (Spr) - Religion, Violence, and Empire
HISTORY 204J, HISTORY 304J (Spr) - Russian Rebels
HISTORY 223D, HISTORY 323D (Aut) - Terrorism
HISTORY 3N (Aut)
2016-17 Courses
- Global History: The Modern Age
HISTORY 1C (Spr) - Global Islam and the British Empire
OSPOXFRD 95 (Aut) - Shia Islam
HISTORY 281D, HISTORY 381D (Win)
- Global History: The Modern Age
Stanford Advisees
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Orals Chair
Samil Can, Nisrin Elamin, Melanie Leon, Cristopher Vazquez Munoz -
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Anubha Anushree, Mejgan Massoumi -
Orals Evaluator
Anubha Anushree, Ignat Ayzenberg, Catherine Baylin Duryea, Melisande Genat -
Doctoral (Program)
Anubha Anushree, Mejgan Massoumi, Sabauon Nasseri
All Publications
- Risking Democracy in Afghanistan: Voting, Violence, and the Struggle for Parliament Journal of International Affairs (online) 2018; October 18, 2018
- Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press). 2015
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Moscow and the Mosque Co-opting Muslims in Putin's Russia
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
2014; 93 (2): 125-134
View details for Web of Science ID 000331670800015
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Trafficking in Evil? The Global Arms Trade and the Politics of Disorder
Conference on Circuits and Networks - Muslim Interactions in the First Age of Globalization
UNIV CALIFORNIA PRESS. 2014: 121-?
View details for Web of Science ID 000333339600007
- The Russian Worlds of Islam Islam and the European Empires edited by Motadel, D. Oxford University Press. 2014
- Putin's Khanate: How Moscow is Trying to Integrate Crimean Muslims Foreign Affairs 2014
- The Taliban and Nationalist Militancy in Afghanistan Contextualizing Jihadi Thought edited by Deol, J., Kazmi, Z. Columbia/Hurst. 2012
- Under the Drones: Modern Lives in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Borderlands edited by Bashir, S., Crews, R. D. Harvard University Press. 2012
- Muslim Networks, Imperial Power and the Local Politics of Qajar Iran Asiatic Russia: Imperial Power in Regional and International Contexts edited by Tomohiko, U. Routledge. 2012
- Russia Unbound: Historical Frameworks and the Challenge of Globalism Ab Imperio 2010; 1: 53-63
- An Empire for the Faithful, A Colony for the Dispossessed Turkestan russe: une colonie comme les autres? edited by Gorshenina, S., Abashin, S. Collection de l’IFEAC. 2009: 79–106
- The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan Harvard University Press. 2008
- Rewriting Europe's Muslim Pasts European Studies Forum 2008; 38 (1): 5-11
- Liberating Afghanistan Middle East Institute Viewpoints 2008: 75-78
- For Prophet and Tsar: Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia Harvard University Press. 2006
- Islamic Law, Imperial Order: Muslims, Jews, and the Russian State Ab Imperio 2004; 3: 467-490
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Empire and the confessional state: Islam and religious politics in nineteenth-century Russia
AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW
2003; 108 (1): 50-83
View details for Web of Science ID 000181438300003
- Civilization in the City: Architecture, Urbanism, and the Colonization of Tashkent Architectures of Identity in Russia, 1500-2000 edited by Cracraft, J., Rowland, D. Cornell University Press. 2003: 117–132