Overview
Overall interest: The history of emotions principally but not exclusively in the European past, with a more recent focus on the complex and curious history of the relation between reason and emotion.
Book manuscript under submission: "The Road to Holy War: Divine Honor and Human Anxieties in France, 1547-1563"
Recent publications: "Dualism and Emotion in the Letters of Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes, 1643-1649," Emotions: History, Culture, Society, prepublication online at Brill.com, publication forthcoming December 2025.
"To Fly the Plane: Language Games, Historical Narratives, and Emotions," History and Theory 62 / 1 (2023):30-61. Open Access at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hith.12289
Most recent book-- The Making of Romantic Love: Longing and Sexuality in Europe, South Asia, and Japan, 900-1200 CE (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012). Awarded the Pinkney Prize for best book in French History, 2012, by the Society for French Historical Studies.
Book manuscript under submission: "The Road to Holy War: Divine Honor and Human Anxieties in France, 1547-1563"
Recent publications: "Dualism and Emotion in the Letters of Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes, 1643-1649," Emotions: History, Culture, Society, prepublication online at Brill.com, publication forthcoming December 2025.
"To Fly the Plane: Language Games, Historical Narratives, and Emotions," History and Theory 62 / 1 (2023):30-61. Open Access at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hith.12289
Most recent book-- The Making of Romantic Love: Longing and Sexuality in Europe, South Asia, and Japan, 900-1200 CE (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012). Awarded the Pinkney Prize for best book in French History, 2012, by the Society for French Historical Studies.
Personal web page: http://people.duke.edu/~wmr/
Current Appointments & Affiliations
William T. Laprade Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History
·
2017 - Present
History,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor Emeritus in History
·
2017 - Present
History,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Recent Publications
The invisible code: Honor and sentiment in postrevolutionary France, 1814-1848
Book · April 28, 2023 This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived ... CiteTO FLY THE PLANE: LANGUAGE GAMES, HISTORICAL NARRATIVES, AND EMOTIONS
Journal Article History and Theory · March 1, 2023 The common Western distinction between reason and emotion (which is not found outside Western-influenced traditions) tends to obscure an important distinction between two kinds of thinking: logical and mathematical reasoning, on the one hand, and, on the o ... Full text Open Access CiteThe Unavoidable Intentionality of Affect: The History of Emotions and the Neurosciences of the Present Day
Journal Article Emotion Review · July 1, 2020 The “problem of emotions,” that is, that many of them are both meaningful and corporeal, has yet to be resolved. Western thinkers, from Augustine to Descartes to Zajonc, have handled this problem by employing various forms of mind–body dualism. Some psycho ... Full text Open Access CiteEducation, Training & Certifications
The University of Chicago ·
1974
Ph.D.
The University of Chicago ·
1970
M.A.
The University of Chicago ·
1969
B.A.