Ottoman Modernity, 1798-1925

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to the history of modern Ottoman Empire, from 1798-1925. It will cover a survey of the fundamental debates about Ottoman Modernity, focusing on key actors, events, and concepts that define the advent of modernity in the Middle East and North Africa. We will first discuss the importance of being modern in order to survive in the age of Empires. We will then see what modernity promised to the peoples of the Ottoman Empire and what made modernity such a contentious, and (un)desirable event. We will finally address the violent legacies of empires and markets in how they shaped race, religion, and nationalism in the region.