Through the lens of Ottoman history, I will argue for the necessity of understanding history across imperial (and national) boundaries in order to dislodge the firmly entrenched conceptual North-South divide. It is crucial that we understand how the all-but-accepted assumptions of a standard North-South relations (ruler/ruled, colonizer/colonized, South-to-North migration. etc) grew out of a specific historical moment during the age of High Imperialism and was later emphasized through the telling of history from a European imperial perspective. Exploring an alternative narrative, would allow us to better understand how global policies (from refugee policies, to the focus of the international criminal court) could reshaped through a dismantling of a Euro-centric historical narrative.

Mostafa Minawi is an assistant professor of history at Cornell University and the director of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Initiative at Cornell University. His research explores late Ottoman historical through a trans-imperial lens. He also works on bringing awareness to plight of the 60 million displaced people across the globe, by focusing on what North American educational institutions can do to help university-ready refugees in the Middle East and Africa.

For CMENAS students only
1:30-2 pm — CMENAS students workshop/discussion with the lecturer/professor.