2015-2016

During our first meeting for the 2015­16 academic year, we workshop a paper by Dzovinar Derderian’s (PhD Candidate in Near Eastern Studies) entitled "Belongings in Nation and Empire: Imaginaries, Aspirations, and Doubts (1850s to 1870s)​."​The event was attended by three professors in Near Eastern Studies, three Manoogian Post­Doctoral Fellows, as well as seven graduate students in Near Eastern Studies, History, Political Science, and Comparative

Literature. The workshop took place on Tuesday, October 13th at 5:30pm​in room 4000 in the Thayer Building on 202 S. Thayer Street.

Second, we held a roundtable workshop to discuss and offer feedback on Tuğçe Kayaal’s (PhD Candidate in Comparative Literature) dissertation chapter entitled “​The Emergence of Charity as a Contested Domain: Armenian Orphans of Istanbul during the Hamidian Era​.” ​The event was attended by four professors in Near Eastern Studies, one professor in Judaic Studies, two Manoogian Post­Doctoral Fellows, and four graduate students in History, Political Science and Comparative Literature. The event took place on Tuesday, October 27, at 5:30pm in Room 4000 of the Thayer Building on 202 S. Thayer Street.

Third, we held a workshop with Dr. Murat Yıldız​(2015­16 Manoogian Post­Doctoral Fellow). Yıldız’s presentation was titled "Centers of Male Sociability, Training, and Fun: Voluntary Athletic Associations" ​and was based on a chapter in his recent dissertation. Workshop attendants offered feedback and suggestions on how to turn the work in question into a book chapter. The workshop took place on Tuesday, November 17, at 6pm​​in Room 4000 of the Thayer Building at 202 S. Thayer Street. Among the attendants were three professors from Near Eastern Studies, one from Judaic Studies, two Manoogian Post­Doctoral Fellows, as well as four graduate students from Near Eastern Studies, History, and Comparative Literature.

Fourth, we workshopped the dissertation chapter of Jeremy Johnson (History­Anthropology). He workshopped one of his dissertation chapters entitled ​“Dynamic Scripts: Orthographic Reform and Social Change in Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR)”.​The workshop took place on Tuesday, January 12, 5:30pm ​in Room 4000 of the Thayer Building, on 202 S. Thayer Street. Among the attendees were one post­doctoral fellow from History, one Near Eastern Studies student, two from Comparative Literature, one student from Political Science, one professor from Near Eastern Studies, and one professor from History.

Fifth, on Thursday, February 11 at 6pm ​Prof. Edhem Eldem​(History Department, Boğaziçi University ­ Mellon Visiting Professor, Columbia University) delivered a lecture entitled "Beyond Orientalism: The Quest for Ottoman Vernacular Photography” ​in STB 2022. ​The lecture draw a crowd of about 30 audience members and was followed by a vigorous Q&A. Sixth, on Friday, February 12, at 6pm, in room STB 1022​, MWAS held a workshop on Mediterranean and Ottoman photography discussing Prof. Edhem Eldem’s​article entitled "Powerful Images: The Dissemination and Impact of Photography in the Ottoman Empire,1870-­1914" ​and Prof. Michele Hannoosh’s​(Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan) article entitled "Practices of Photography: Circulation and Mobility in the Nineteenth­Century Mediterranean."​The workshop was attended by one student from Near Eastern Studies, one post­doctoral fellow from History, a visiting scholar from Macalester College (MN), two professors from the Near Eastern Studies, two students from Comparative Literature and one student from History.

Seventh, we held a workshop on Tuesday, March 29, at 5:30pm in Thayer 4000, at 202 S. Thayer Street Alina Poghosyan​’s ( 2015­2016 Manoogian Post­doctoral Fellow) working paper, entitled: ”Introducing Bakhtin's Concept of Dialogue in Migration Studies​.​”​​Among the attendants were two graduate students from Near Eastern Studies, one post­doctoral fellow from Anthro­History and two professors from Near Eastern Studies. Poghosyan got some important question and feedback in regards to her methodology and sources she used for her paper.

Eighth, April 5, at 5:30​in room STB(Thayer) 4000 Vahe Sahakyan (​2015­2016 Manoogian Post­doctoral Fellow) ​presented his paper entitled “Spaces of Difference, Spaces of Belonging: Negotiating Armenianness in Lebanon and France​.​” ​Sahakyan received a lot of feedback from the professors and students present at the workshop, among whom were one Manoogian Post­Doctoral Fellow, as well as four graduate students from History, Near Eastern Studies, Comparative Literature and Political Science.