Join us for a talk with Chris as he discusses "Under the Mandate of Heaven: A Historical Study of Omens and Executives "

In this paper we explore how extraordinary natural occurrences served as omens to influence the volume of executive decisions and cohesion in government. Natural disasters and anomalies have long been interpreted as divine interventions to challenge the legitimacy of the ruling body. In order to understand how ruling executives responded to these challenges we utilize the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, the official daily accounts of the kingdom’s various affairs recorded between 1413 and 1865 CE.

Christopher Paik is an associate professor of political science at New York University Abu Dhabi. He also serves as Global Network Associate Professor of Politics at New York University. His research focuses on political geography, political economy and economic history. He is interested in the role of geography in explaining long-term outcomes related to political and economic development; the origins of states and state stability; the causes and effects of historical global encounters, including colonialism; and the politics of ethnic identification. Together, his research brings a global, comparative and historical perspective to the study of fundamental questions in the social sciences related to states and governance.