ISTANBUL SYMPOSIUM: Some Suggested Panel and Paper Topics

ISTANBUL SYMPOSIUM: Some Suggested Panel and Paper Topics



As the 1 October deadline nears for proposals for the symposium

“Byzantine and Ottoman Civilizations in World History” to be held in

Istanbul, 21-24 October 2010, the program committee thought it

appropriate to suggest some panel and/or paper topics for persons

still wondering whether or not to offer a proposal. This list of

suggestions represents only a small fraction of possible topics, but

it might help some colleagues to understand better what the organizers

mean by “world history”. Persons who still might be unclear whether or

not a particular topic is “world historical” should consult the

panel/paper proposal form, a link to which can be found on the top of

the World History Association’s home page at www.thewha.org. There

they will find a short definition of world history. All proposals, by

the way, should be submitted electronically and on this form to the

WHA. Simply download it, fill it out, and e-mail the file to

thewha@hawaii. edu with the subject heading ?Istanbul Symposium

Proposal.?



Suggested Topics:

Byzantines and/or Turks in the literature of World History

Constantinople/ Istanbul as a Global City

Byzantium and/or the Ottoman Empire and the steppe peoples

Byzantium and/or the Ottoman Empire and the European West

Byzantium and Islam

The Ottoman Empire and Christendom beyond its borders

Byzantium and/or the Ottoman Empire and the Slavic World

Byzantium and/or the Ottoman Empire and the Silk Road(s)

Slaves from Afar: Byzantium and/or the Ottoman Empire and the Slave

Trade

Organizing and Deploying Multi-cultural Armed Forces: A Comparative

Study of Byzantine and Ottoman Military History

Byzantines and Ottomans: Intellectual, cultural, and artistic

transmissions before and after 1453.

Byzantine and Ottoman Empires: continuities and discontinuities

The Mediterranean and the Byzantine and/or Ottoman World

Byzantine/Ottoman long-distance travelers

Courtly women and transregional connections

Byzantine and/or Ottoman peasants and artisans and the larger world

(N. B. such phenomena as migration, relocation, resettlement, and

conquests provide a rich avenue though which to integrate Anatolian

peasants into world history)

A comparative study of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires

Magic and prophecies across borders and cultures