[Discussion] "Ottoman and Atlantic Empires in the Early Modern World"

[sule tarakcioglu]

The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, the=20
Huntington Library, the United States Consulate in Istanbul, and=20
Bogazi=E7i University invite proposals for papers and workshops to be=20
presented at a conference on "Ottoman and Atlantic Empires in the Early=20
Modern World" to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, October 19-21, 2005.

In the early modern world two of the principal zones of imperial=20
expansion were in the eastern Mediterranean, fostered under the=20
suzerainty of the Ottomans, and around the North Atlantic rim, driven by=20
the competition among European monarchies. Two events in the fifteenth=20
century signaled the intensification of contact and rivalry. The=20
interconnections between Europeans and Ottomans became more intense with=20
the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and Columbus's voyage to the=20
west in 1492 marked the onset of European penetration into the Western=20
hemisphere and beyond. Although the timing and particularities of empire=20
formation varied, contacts between the Ottomans and Europeans, knowledge=20
of each other, and desires for each other's territory and goods=20
influenced their respective political agendas, religious views, mental=20
constructs, economic goals, and cultural values. This conference calls=20
for historically grounded cross-cultural comparisons that will explore=20
such intersections between Ottoman and Atlantic (particularly=20
Anglo-American) empires and world views in the early modern era.

The conference will take two forms, one consisting of formal sessions=20
with papers and the second constituting methodological and=20
historiographical workshops focused on primary sources. The program will=20
be structured so as to match or create workshops that coincide with=20
themes in the sessions. The workshops will then serve as critique and=20
commentary on the formal presentations. We expect that Ottoman scholars=20
will read in the histories of early modern European empires in the North=20
Atlantic, and American and British historians will read in the history=20
of the early modern Ottoman empire.

Formal Presentations

Proposals for formal papers might deal with interactions between people=20
residing in the Ottoman and/or Atlantic (and especially Anglo-American)=20
empires. They might include, but are not limited to, discussions of=20
travelers and their accounts, political structures, commercial networks,=20
social relationships, and questions of diversity.

Workshops
Our hope is that the methodologies and historiographies of historians of=20
the Atlantic world will shed new light on the materials of Ottoman=20
historians, and vice versa. Thus, each workshop will focus on analyses=20
of primary sources from both the Ottoman and Atlantic worlds and=20
perspectives. The workshops will be informal, will build off of a series=20
of (probably on-line) discussions between the participants, and will be=20
considered as experiments in cross-cultural and/or comparative=20
conversation. These workshops will make up the more experimental aspect=20
of the conference. We envision a series of sessions that would allow=20
Ottoman and Atlantic empire scholars together to consider the most basic=20
differences and commonalities in their fields, by exploring key texts=20
for what these reveal about the various empires and about the ways in=20
which these have been or can be studied. Proposals for contributions to=20
workshops should propose a specific document or group of documents in=20
your field. These may be newly-discovered or well-known. It is critical,=20
though, that they be accessible to scholars in the other field (most=20
obviously, this means that Ottoman documents must be translated into=20
English).
Both papers and workshops might coalesce around the following topics:=20
Early stages of empire building. In the Ottoman case, the focus will be=20
upon the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries; in the English case,=20
it will be on the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Cultural exchanges between empires and indigenous peoples. The English,=20
the French, the Spanish, and the Ottomans all had to contend with a host=20
of peoples in regions of empire building. It is likely that both=20
religion and trade will constitute important sub-themes of this topic.

Law and lawlessness. The creation of legal structures and legal codes in=20
diverse environments is common to the early modern imperial experience.=20
In each case, these vary over place and time, and influence the=20
authority and legitimacy of the state.

Resistance to empire. Not only resistance and rebellion, but also=20
cooptation characterized early modern empires.

Cultural constructs and identities. Both the Ottoman and Atlantic world=20
empires were continuously evolving. They also persistently generated new=20
and evolving identities among their various subject peoples.

The deadline for submission of proposals is *August 2, 2004*. Please=20
send a proposal of no more than 500 words along with a one-page=20
curriculum vitae.

	Daniel Goffman
Department of History
DePaul University
2320 N. Kenmore Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614

Email: dgoffman@depaul.edu <mailto:dgoffman@depaul.edu>
Visit the website at http://web.wm.edu/oieahc/conferences/ottoman.htm