History of the Ottoman Empire

At the completion of this course, students will be able to:

· address issues of cultural interaction and diversity, as well as encounters between peoples and the ways that they co-existed under an imperial rule.

· comprehend the contributions of the Ottomans to our civilization.

· understand the role of the Ottomans in shaping the modern Middle East, Eastern Europe, and North Africa

· understand how military fiscal empires functioned in the early modern world.

· improve their skills in historical research, analysis, interpretation, and working with primary and secondary sources.

Required Readings:

Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.

Professors and students, Levni's Surname.

This course is designed as a survey of the Ottoman Empire from its late thirteenth century origins to its demise at the end of WWI. Being one of the largest and long lasting empires in world history, the Ottoman Empire ruled lands in three continents (Europe, Asia, Africa) and left their imprint in a region stretching from modern day Vienna to Iran and from Ukraine to Yemen. Stressing the political, social, and cultural influence of the earlier Byzantine, Turkic, Islamic, Near Eastern, and Mediterranean traditions on the Ottoman institutions, this course will treat the Ottoman Empire as a case study of a diverse, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious fiscal-military empire.