Name
ELDEM, Edhem
Position and Affiliated Institution
Professor, Department of History, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey
Degree
Ph.D.
Education and Academic Employment
| Education: | |
| 1989 | Ph.D. Université de Provence, Aix-Marseille I |
| Academic Employment: | |
| 1989- present | Full Professor from 1998, Department of History, Bogazici Univrsity |
| 2017-2022 | Professor, Collège de France |
| 2016, 2024-2025 | Visiting Professor, Columbia University |
| 2011-2012 | Fellow, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin |
| 2009 | Visiting Professor, Harvard University |
| 2001-2003, 2005-2006, 2009 | Visiting Professor, École des hautes études en sciences sociales |
| 1999-2000 | Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley |
Research Topic
The dynamics of the early Tanzimat period (1839-1856)
The central topic behind the project is the early phase of the Tanzimat (Reorganization) period, named after the edict (hatt-ı hümayun) that was promulgated on 3 November 1839 and which is generally considered to have ushered in a gradual Westernization of the Ottoman Empire, while at the same time introducing notions of (near) equality among subjects and of control over the power and authority of the Sultan. At the risk of oversimplifying a much more complex comparison, one could timidly suggest that this was an Ottoman version of the Meiji Restoration that would redefine Japan some thirty years later. The period I intend to cover is that of 1839-1856, from the Reorganization Edict to the Reform Edict, with inevitable spillovers into the years before and after this twenty-year period. The two dates are highly symbolic and mark a rapid process of transformation. If 1839 was a timid beginning, 1856 was an apotheosis, as it granted full equality to all subjects of the Empire, transforming them in effect into citizens.
Fields of Research Interests
Ottoman history, nineteenth century; Westernization and modernization; Orientalism; archaeology, museology and heritage in the Ottoman lands; history of photography in the Ottoman Empire; Ottoman funerary epigraphy; Imperial Ottoman Bank; Osman Hamdi Bey; transformations of Istanbul in the nineteenth century
Academic Publications
- The Alhambra at the Crossroads of History (2024)
- L’Empire ottoman (2022)
- L’Empire ottoman et la Turquie face à l’Occident (2018)
- Camera Ottomana. Photography and Modernity in the Ottoman Empire, 1870-1914 (2015)
- Scramble for the Past. A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753-1914 (2011)
Affiliated Academic Organizations
Founding member of the Foundation for the Social and Economic History of Turkey (Türkiye Toplumsal ve Ekonomik Tarih Vakfı). 1991–
Member of the Turkish Studies Association. 1996–
Member of the Middle East Studies Association of North America. 1999–
Member of the Association des Études Turques. 2001–
Member of the Council of Strategic Orientation of the Network of French Schools Abroad. 2022–
Awards
- Sedat Simavi Award in the Social Sciences (2000)
- Boğaziçi University Foundation (Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Vakfı) award for outstanding research (2015)
- Member of the Science Academy (Bilim Akademisi) (2018)
- Member of the Aga Khan Architectural Award Master Jury (2019)
- Honorary member of the Institute of Mediterranean Studies, Rethymno (2021)
- Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur (2022)
- Member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco (2023)
