Topics in Ottoman History, 1300 1800

The Ottomans ruled Southeast Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Anatolia for nearly half a millennium. The objective of this seminar is to explore the rich and growing literature on the social, cultural, political, and economic history of this bygone empire, whose legacy still persists, in one way or another, in some twenty-five contemporary successor states from the Balkans to the Arabian Peninsula. The seminar is designed to contextualize the Ottoman experiences within the broader structures of global and regional histories during the late-medieval and early modern eras. Each week, we will focus on a particular theme, assess the current state of scholarship on the topic, and reflect upon a specific set of primary sources useful for the study of the issue. The themes we will explore include, but are not limited to, identities and mentalities, governance of the empire and its bureaucracy, the status of minorities and confessional politics, literacy and the use of the public sphere, legal culture and pluralism, the environment, and science and technology. Please be advised that this seminar will avoid the mere chronological narrative of Ottoman political and institutional history, which often recounts the transformation from the 'terror of Europe' to its 'Sick Man.' Throughout the course, we will emphasize the gradually evolving nature of the multi-layered, multi-ethnic, and multi-lingual Ottoman polity, society, and culture to challenge such essentialist and ahistorical assessments of past Ottoman experiences.