View source for Biography:Ian Morris (historian)

{{short description|British historian and archaeologist}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Ian M. Morris
| image       = Ian morris 3235.JPG
| alt         =
| caption     =
| birth_name  = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1960|01|27}}
| birth_place =
|death_date  = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|death date†|birth date†}} -->
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| other_names =
| occupation  = Historian, archaeologist, [[Social:Professor|professor]]
| education = Alleyne’s High School
| alma mater = [[Organization:University of Birmingham|University of Birmingham]];<br /> St John's College, Cambridge
| known_for   = ''Why the West Rules—For Now''
}}

'''Ian Matthew Morris''' (born 27 January 1960) is a British historian, archaeologist, and Willard Professor of Classics at [[Organization:Stanford University|Stanford University]].<ref name="stanford.edu"/>

==Early life==
Morris was born on 27 January 1960 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.<ref name="WW 21">{{cite web |title=Morris, Prof. Ian Matthew, (born 27 Jan. 1960), Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor of Classics, Stanford University, since 1995; Fellow, Stanford Archaeology Center, since 2000; Senior Fellow, LSE IDEAS, since 2015 |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U268936 |website=Who's Who 2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=17 March 2021 |language=en |date=1 December 2020}}</ref> He attended Alleyne's High School, a comprehensive school in Stone, Staffordshire.<ref name="WW 21" /> He studied at the [[Organization:University of Birmingham|University of Birmingham]], graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1981.<ref name="CV">{{cite web |title=Ian Morris CV |url=https://classics-stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj10936/f/morris_cv_2017.pdf |website=Department of Classics |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=17 March 2021 |date=2017 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He undertook a [[Social:Doctor of Philosophy|Doctor of Philosophy]] (PhD) degree at the St John's College, Cambridge,<ref>{{cite web |title=New Johnian Fellows of the British Academy |website=www.joh.cam.ac.uk |url=https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/new-johnian-fellows-british-academy |date=2012}}</ref> graduating in 1985.<ref name="stanford.edu">{{cite web|title=Ian Morris|url=http://www.stanford.edu/dept/classics/cgi-bin/web/people/faculty/ian-morris|website=Department of Classics|publisher=Stanford University|language=en|access-date=10 November 2010|archive-date=5 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105193620/http://www.stanford.edu/dept/classics/cgi-bin/web/people/faculty/ian-morris|url-status=dead}}</ref> His doctoral thesis was titled "Burial and society at Athens, 1100-500 BC".<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Morris |first1=I. M. |title=Burial and society at Athens, 1100-500 BC |url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.372918 |website=E-Thesis Online Service |publisher=The British Library Board |access-date=17 March 2021 |date=1985 |doi=10.17863/CAM.20100 |type=Ph.D |archive-date=20 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220142949/https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.372918 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Career==
From 1987 to 1995, he taught at the [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]]. Since 1995, he has been at Stanford.

Since joining Stanford, he has served as Associate Dean of Humanities and Sciences, Chair of the Classics Department, and Director of the Social Science History Institute. He was one of the founders of the Stanford Archaeology Center and has served two terms as its director.<ref name="humanexperience.stanford.edu">{{cite web|title=Classics and History Expert - Ian Morris {{!}} Humanities at Stanford|url=http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/morris|access-date=19 June 2017|date=17 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091101050543/http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/morris|archive-date=1 November 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> He has published extensively on the history and the archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean and on [[History:World history (field)|world history]]. He has also won a Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=H&S Dean's Award - School of Humanities and Sciences|url=http://humsci.stanford.edu/faculty/awards/deans_award|access-date=19 June 2017|date=3 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211005039/http://humsci.stanford.edu/faculty/awards/deans_award|archive-date=11 December 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Between 2000 and 2007, he directed Stanford's [[Social:Excavation (archaeology)|excavation]] at Monte Polizzo, [[Place:Sicily|Sicily]], Italy.<ref name="humanexperience.stanford.edu"/>

He has been awarded research fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Hoover Institution,<ref>{{cite web|title=Ian Morris|url=http://www.hoover.org/fellows/154651|website=Hoover Institution|access-date=19 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=5 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105184630/http://www.hoover.org/fellows/154651|url-status=dead}}</ref> National Endowment for the Humanities,<ref name="humanexperience.stanford.edu"/> [[Organization:Center for Hellenic Studies|Center for Hellenic Studies]] in [[Place:Washington, D.C.|Washington, D.C.]],<ref name="news-service.stanford.edu">{{cite news|last1=Trei|first1=Lisa|title=Faculty win Guggenheims for 'exceptional' scholarship:4/02|url=http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2002/april24/guggenheim-424.html|access-date=19 June 2017|agency=Stanford News Service|date=24 April 2002}}</ref> and Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin-Madison.<ref name="news-service.stanford.edu"/> He is also a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and has been awarded honorary degrees by De Pauw University and Birmingham University. In 2012 his work was the subject of a lengthy profile in the ''Chronicle of Higher Education''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Parry|first1=Marc|title=The Shape of History|url=http://chronicle.com/article/In-Ian-Morriss-Big-History/137415/|access-date=19 June 2017|work=The Chronicle of Higher Education|date=25 February 2013}}</ref> He delivered the [[Philosophy:Tanner Lectures on Human Values|Tanner Lectures on Human Values]] at [[Organization:Princeton University|Princeton University]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Princeton UCHV|url=http://uchv.princeton.edu/lectures_seminars/tanner_lectures_archive.php|access-date=19 June 2017|date=20 June 2013|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105185827/http://uchv.princeton.edu/lectures_seminars/tanner_lectures_archive.php|archive-date=5 November 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Ian Morris plans to develop his views on the first-millennium BC transformations (the shift from religion-based power to bureaucratic and military one, and the rise of Axial thought) in his new book.<ref>Note 24 to Chapter 5 in ''Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels''</ref>

==''Why the West Rules—For Now''==
His 2010 book, ''Why the West Rules—For Now'', compares [[Place:Eastern world|East]] and West across the last 15,000 years, arguing that [[Earth:Physical geography|physical geography]], rather than culture, religion, politics, genetics, or great men, explains Western domination of the globe. ''[[Finance:The Economist|The Economist]]'' has called it "an important book—one that challenges, stimulates and entertains. Anyone who does not believe there are lessons to be learned from history should start here."<ref name="ll">{{cite news|title=On top of the world|url=http://www.economist.com/node/17199546?story_id=17199546&fsrc=rss|access-date=19 June 2017|newspaper=The Economist|date=7 October 2010}}</ref> The book won several literary awards, including the 2011 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Creative Nonfiction,<ref>{{cite web|title=Announcing the 2011 Literary Awards Festival Winners {{!}} PEN Center USA|url=http://penusa.org/2011-literary-awards-festival-winners|access-date=19 June 2017|date=14 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714031530/http://penusa.org/2011-literary-awards-festival-winners|archive-date=14 July 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and was named as one of the books of the year by Newsweek,<ref>{{cite news|title=Smarter Reading - Newsweek|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/03/21-ways-to-be-smarter-in-2011/smarter-reading.html|access-date=19 June 2017|date=19 January 2011|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119235437/http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/03/21-ways-to-be-smarter-in-2011/smarter-reading.html|archive-date=19 January 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Foreign Affairs,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ferguson|first1=Niall|title=Books for the World Ahead|journal=Foreign Affairs|date=2011|issue=November/December|page=7|url=http://ianmorris.org/docs/review-whythewest-foreignaffairs.pdf|access-date=19 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514182332/http://www.ianmorris.org/docs/review-whythewest-foreignaffairs.pdf|archive-date=14 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Foreign Policy,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/11/28/the_global_thinkers_20_most_recommended_books?page=0,1 |title= The Global Thinkers' Book Club &#124; Foreign Policy|website=foreignpolicy.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131120091014/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/11/28/the_global_thinkers_20_most_recommended_books?page=0%2C1 |archive-date=20 November 2013}}</ref>  {{wipe|The New York Times}}, and a number of other newspapers. It has been translated into 13 languages.

==''The Measure of Civilization''==
''The Measure of Civilization'' is a companion volume to ''Why the West Rules—For Now''. It provides details of the evidence and the statistical methods used by Morris to construct the social development index that he used in ''Why the West Rules'' to compare long-term Eastern and Western history. The International Studies Association and Social Science History Association devoted panels to discussing the book at their 2013 annual meetings. The book is being translated into Chinese.

==''War! What is it Good For?''==
''War! What is it Good For?: Conflict and the Progress of Civilization from Primates to Robots'' was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in the US and Profile Books in Britain in April 2014.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Shephard|first1=Ben|title=Books: What Is It Good for?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/20/war-what-is-it-good-for-ian-morris|access-date=19 June 2017|work=The Guardian|date=19 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Lowe|first1=Keith|title=War: What Is It Good For? by Ian Morris, review|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/10786021/War-What-Is-It-Good-For-by-Ian-Morris-review.html|access-date=19 June 2017|work=Daily Telegraph|date=25 April 2014|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Lutz|first1=Catherine|title='War: What Is It Good For?' by Ian Morris|url=http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/War-What-Is-It-Good-For-by-Ian-Morris-5613449.php|access-date=19 June 2017|work=SFGate|date=10 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Fernandez-Armesto|first1=Felipe|title=Book Review: 'War! What Is It Good For?' by Ian Morris|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303325204579463552011272012|access-date=19 June 2017|work=Wall Street Journal|date=11 April 2014}}</ref> Morris argues that there is enough evidence to trace the history of violence across many thousands of years and that a startling fact emerges. For all of its horrors, over the last 10,000 years, war has made the world safer and richer, as it is virtually the only way that people have found to create large, internally pacified societies that then drive down the rate of violent death. The lesson of the last 10,000 years of military history, he argues, is that the way to end war is by learning to manage it, not by trying to wish it out of existence. Morris also devotes a chapter to the 1974-1978 [[Biology:Gombe Chimpanzee War|Gombe Chimpanzee War]] in Tanzania. The German translation of the book, ''Krieg: Wozu er gut ist'', was published by Campus Verlag in October 2013. A Dutch translation was published in 2014 by Spectrum (Houten/Antwerp): ''Verwoesting en vooruitgang''. Its Spanish translation was released in 2017, edited by Ático de Libros, under the title ''Guerra, ¿para qué sirve?''.

==Awards and honors==
*2014 California Book Awards Nonfiction Finalist for ''War! What is it Good For?'' <ref name="The Commonwealth Club">{{cite web|url=http://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/special-events/california-book-awards|title=84th Annual California Book Awards Winners}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* ''Burial and Ancient Society,'' Cambridge, 1987  {{ISBN|978-0-521-38738-5}}
* ''Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity,'' Cambridge 1992  {{ISBN|978-0-521-37611-2}}
* Editor, ''Classical Greece: Ancient Histories and Modern Archaeologies,'' Cambridge, 1994  {{ISBN|978-0-521-45678-4}}
* Co-editor, with Barry B. Powell, ''A New Companion to Homer,'' E. J. Brill, 1997  {{ISBN|978-90-04-09989-0}}
* Co-editor, with Kurt Raaflaub, ''Democracy 2500? Questions and Challenges,'' Kendall-Hunt, 1997  {{ISBN|978-0-7872-4466-8}}
* ''Archaeology as Cultural History,'' Blackwell, 2000 {{ISBN|978-0-631-19602-0}}
* ''The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society,'' with Barry B. Powell; Prentice-Hall, 1st ed. 2005, 2nd ed. 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-13-921156-0}}
* Co-editor, with Joe Manning, ''The Ancient Economy: Evidence and Models,'' Stanford, 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-8047-5755-3}}
* Co-editor, with Walter Scheidel and Richard Saller, ''The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman World,'' Cambridge, 2007 {{ISBN|978-0-521-78053-7}}
* Co-editor, with Walter Scheidel, of ''The Dynamics of Ancient Empires,''  Oxford, 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-19-537158-1}}
* ''Why the West Rules—For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010; Profile Books, 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-374-29002-3}}
* ''The Measure of Civilisation: How Social Development Decides the Fate of Nations'', Princeton University Press, 2013; Profile Books, 2013 {{ISBN|978-0-691-15568-5}}
* ''War! What is it Good For? Conflict and the Progress of Civilization from Primates to Robots'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014; Profile Books, 2014 {{ISBN|978-0-374-28600-2}}
* ''Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels: How Human Values Evolve'' (The Tanner Lectures, edited and with an introduction by Stephen Macedo and commentaries by Richard Seaford, Jonathan D. Spence, Christine M. Korsgaard, and Margaret Atwood), Princeton University Press, 2015; {{ISBN|9780691160399}}
* ''Geography Is Destiny: Britain and the World: A 10,000-Year History'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022; Profile Books, 2022 ISBN 9780374157272

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.stanford.edu/dept/classics/cgi-bin/web/people/faculty/ian-morris Ian Morris] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105193620/http://www.stanford.edu/dept/classics/cgi-bin/web/people/faculty/ian-morris |date=5 November 2013 }}, Stanford University Classics Department.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091101050543/http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/morris Classics and History Expert - Ian Morris], Stanford University Humanities Department.
* [http://www.theglobaldispatches.com/articles/why-the-west-rules-for-now Why the West Rules for Now], Interview with Ian Morris in www.theglobaldispatches.com.
* [http://conversations.berkeley.edu/content/ian-morris Ian Morris interview on "Conversations With History,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221162315/http://conversations.berkeley.edu/content/ian-morris |date=21 February 2011 }} a UC Berkeley podcast and video series.
* [https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/11/28/the_global_thinkers_20_most_recommended_books?page=0,1 ' Foreign Policy magazine review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131120091014/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/11/28/the_global_thinkers_20_most_recommended_books?page=0%2C1 |date=20 November 2013 }} of ''Why the West Rules''.
* [https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(14)01372-4.pdf Increased Affluence Explains the Emergence of Ascetic Wisdoms and Moralizing Religions], an article together with Nicolas Baumard, Alexandre Hyafil and [[Biography:Pascal Boyer|Pascal Boyer]]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Ian}}
[[Category:Futurologists]]

{{Sourceattribution|Ian Morris (historian)}}