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<p class="MsoNormal">MES Forum members, please share this opportunity with your colleagues and students:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;color:red">The Challenge of Equality in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;color:red">Dr. Edhem Eldem<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Columbia University)</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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<u><span style="color:black">Date/Time</span></u><span style="color:black">: Friday, October 31, 2025, 4:00-5:30 pm<br>
<u>Location</u>: Dulles Hall 168</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<b><span style="color:black">Abstract</span></b><span style="color:black"><br>
</span><span style="color:#212121">How present was the notion of equality in Ottoman political culture and social practice during the era of reforms and modernization? Even a cursory glance at contemporary sources shows that the term was only rarely used, contrary
to frequent references to justice as a driving ethical and social principle. An investigation into the factors behind these choices reveals some fundamental differences between the tradition of a plural empire and the principles governing the Western powers
that were pushing it towards equality. It may also explain the resilience of a political culture responsible for Turkey’s constant struggle with democracy</span><span style="color:black">.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<b><span style="color:black">About Edhem Eldem</span></b><span style="color:black"><br>
<a href="https://www.college-de-france.fr/en/chair/edhem-eldem-turkish-and-ottoman-history-international-chair/biography" title="https://www.college-de-france.fr/en/chair/edhem-eldem-turkish-and-ottoman-history-international-chair/biography"><span style="color:#96607D">Prof.
Edhem Eldem</span></a>, one of the foremost historians of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey, currently serves as t</span><span style="color:#212121">he Sabancı Visiting Professor in the Department of History at Columbia University. From 2017 to 2022, he
held the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>International Chair of Turkish and Ottoman History at the Collège de France. He was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 2022. A specialist in the last two centuries of the Ottoman Empire, Professor
Eldem’s scholarship spans a wide range of subjects, including Levantine trade, Muslim funerary epigraphy, the history of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, the history of archaeology and photography in the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul during the long nineteenth century,
Westernization and Orientalism, the cultural elite of the late Empire and (auto)biographical sources from this period.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<i><span style="color:#212121">This event is part of the Department of History Lecture Series in Ottoman and Turkish History. For questions, please contact Yiğit Akın (</span></i><i><span style="color:#96607D"><a href="mailto:akin.16@osu.edu" title="mailto:akin.16@osu.edu"><span style="color:#96607D">akin.16@osu.edu</span></a></span></i><i><span style="color:#212121">).</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#BB0000;background:white"><img border="0" width="226" height="44" style="width:2.3541in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image002.png@01DC4722.A08CE280" alt="signature_1345232158"></span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="TR" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Yiğit Akın</span></b><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#BB0000;background:white"> </span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333"><br>
<span style="background:white">Associate Professor and Carter V. Findley Chair of Ottoman and Turkish History</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333;background:white">Director, Graduate Studies Committee, 2025-27</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Department of History</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">The Ohio State University <b> </b></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333"><br>
<span style="background:white"><a href="https://history.osu.edu/people/akin.16" title="https://history.osu.edu/people/akin.16"><span style="color:#0563C1">https://history.osu.edu/people/akin.16</span></a></span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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