Elif Mahir Metinsoy of Galatasaray University on her book “Ottoman Women During World War I: Everyday Experiences, Politics and Conflict” (Cambridge University Press). The book describes the lives of ordinary Muslim women in the Ottoman Empire during the Great War. It moves beyond a traditional focus on the experiences of the educated, middle or upper class ... Show More
May 12
Brett Wilson on the myth and reality of modern Turkey's religious reforms
Brett Wilson on his article "Sufi Leaders in the early Turkish Republic: Profession, Privilege, and Persecution (1925-1950)". The piece studies the impact of the 1925 outlawing of Islamic religious orders, challenging the traditional idea of harsh secularist persecution. Please s ... Show More
39m 56s
Apr 28
Suzy Hansen on Turkey and an Istanbul neighborhood in the age of Erdoğan
Suzy Hansen on “From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdoğan” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The book focuses on Istanbul's Karagumruk to explore the everyday impact of geopolitical upheaval, economic turbulence and the arrival of Syrian migrants in ... Show More
48m 57s
Feb 2024
Atatürk: Fall of the Ottoman Empire
<p>On the 19th of May, 1919, an Ottoman general stepped ashore at the Black Sea port city of Samsun. This marked the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence, and ultimately the end of the Ottoman Empire. The man's name was Mustafa Kemal, the soldier, statesman and reformer w ... Show More
33m 56s
Nov 2018
Holy War and the Rise of the Ottomans
<p>The Ottoman Empire rose from humble beginnings in Anatolia to dominate a vast swathe of territory. Holy war, <em>gaza,</em> was a powerful driving force behind that expansion. At the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, Ottoman holy war clashed directly with its Christian equivalent: ... Show More
54m 56s
Jul 2023
The Firebrand from Damascus (Part 1)
Ibn Taymiyyah is known as the “Sheikh of Islam” to his admirers, and to his detractors, one of the most significant antecedents of modern Salafi Jihadism. Simultaneously a genius scholar, brutal warrior and unflinching polemicist, he is one of the most important pioneers of a mil ... Show More
52m 46s
May 2023
La danza del cóndor y el águila: Etnografías y narrativas del 'despertar muisca'
En la vida, muchas veces adoptamos filosofías, expresiones e incluso comportamientos que no obedecen a nuestros contextos inmediatos; tal vez por mayor empatía con unas u otras, lo cual nos lleva a construir nuestras propias identidades. Otras veces nos quedamos con nuestros pasa ... Show More
59m 48s