“Reading Ottoman Turkish”
Mediterranean Studies Summer Skills Seminar
9—12 June 2025 • Remote
The Summer Skills Seminar, “Reading Ottoman Turkish” will be held via Zoom from Monday, 9 June to Thursday, 12 June 2025 from 10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm MDT.
Course overview
This Summer Skills Course will introduce participants to the Ottoman language, it’s alphabet, calligraphic styles, basic grammar and structure, as well as an overview of changes over time. The course will focus on primary sources often used by historians and the paleographic challenges they present. This seminar is designed for academics, particularly graduate students, postdocs, and professors working in disciplines such as history, literature, and religious studies who have interest in Ottoman history and literature but have not been exposed to the language. Participants should have at least one year of Modern Turkish and preferably some knowledge of either Arabic or Persian. Students with strong Arabic or Persian but little to no Turkish are also welcome to apply. This is an introductory course with historians interested in venturing into Ottoman history. Thus, attention will be paid to the ways that linguistic paleographical skills can enhance diverse forms of research and teaching. Participants will receive a completion certificate which may be listed on a CV and on other documents such as grant/fellowship applications. The seminar is held via Zoom over four days, with two two-hour sessions each day. Participants are invited to prepare readings in advance of the sessions, which will be a blend of lecture and group-work.
For almost six hundred years, the Ottomans ruled most of the Balkans and the Middle East. From their bases in Anatolia, Ottoman armies advanced into the Balkans, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq, constantly challenging the borders of neighboring European and Islamicate empires. By the end of the seventeenth century, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Cairo, Baghdad, Sarejevo, Budapest, and nearly Vienna came under Ottoman rule. As the empire expanded into Europe and the Middle East, a central part of Ottoman life was connected to the emergence, consolidation, transformation and use of the Turkish language. This course offers an introduction to Ottoman Turkish, providing an intro level course to the language and a brief overview of Ottoman paleography. By the end of the course, the student will be able to read basic texts in print, recognize different paleographic styles, types of documents, as well as understand how and what dictionary to use for different types of texts. The course is perfect for students with knowledge of Turkish and/or Persian and Arabic, with an interest but no prior knowledge of Ottoman Turkish.
The course is divided into four sections (two two-hour sessions). The first section will focus on learning the alphabet and recognizing basic vocabulary. The second section will focus on examples of changes between Ottoman and modern Turkish. The third section will focus on the different paleographic styles and the most common types of documents historians might encounter. The last section will provide a short history of Ottoman language with examples.
The goal of this course is to introduce participants’ printed and handwritten Ottoman texts in their research and teaching and provide them with a bona fide (in the form of a certificate of completion for those who attend the full seminar), which may be advantageous in securing funding for research and travel. This course is designed as an introduction that will allow students to continue their training either independently or through intensive courses that require some knowledge of Ottoman.
Faculty
The course will be led by Prof. Oscar Aguirre Mandujano (University of Pennsylvania, Department of History). He studies early modern Ottoman intellectual history, and its connections to literature, poetry, and bureaucracy. Aguirre-Mandujano first monograph, Occasions for Poetry: Politics, Literature and Imagination Among the Early Modern Ottomans (forthcoming with Penn Press, March 2025) examines the relation between literary composition and the transformation of political thought in the early modern Ottoman Empire. Since 2012, he is also part of the teaching staff at the Intensive Ottoman and Turkish Summer School (Harvard/Koç Universities) in Cunda, Turkey, where he tutors in Ottoman paleography and Ottoman archival sources. Aguirre-Mandujano is also co-organizer of the Baki Project, a Digital Humanities project that aims to develop new digital tools for the study of Ottoman manuscripts
Application & Information
Participants MUST have the equivalent of at least one year of university-level Turkish. Turkish native speakers are also welcome to apply.
Please note: sessions will not be recorded; synchronous attendance is required.
The regular application period is until April 28.
Applicants will be advised of acceptance by May 5.
Payment is due on May 12. Applicants waiting on a grant or subvention may request an extension for the second payment.
Late applicants may be accommodated if space remains. Full payment will be due within three days of acceptance, including a $75 surcharge for late applications.
All payments are final and non-refundable. A letter of confirmation/ receipt will be provided by the Mediterranean Seminar, together with a certificate of completion once the course has concluded.
Apply via this form.
For further information or inquiries, contact mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org, subject: “Summer Skills Information”)
Fees
• $1100 for Full Professors, Librarians & Professionals
• $825 for tenured Associates, Emerita/us, Retired Faculty, Independent Scholars & Non-Academics;
• $575 for non-tenured Associates and Assistants, Postdoctoral Fellows & Graduate and Undergraduate students;
• $400 for Adjuncts, Lecturers & Contingent faculty.
Members of University of Colorado departments may be eligible for a discount.
Limited reductions are offered to applicants who are (1) nationals; (2) current residents; (3) AND faculty or students in low-per-capita GDP countries may apply for a reduction (the Low-GDP Bursary program).
Payment information will be provided at the time of acceptance. Posted fees do not include a 5% processing fee.
All fees are non-refundable.
How do we determine our fees?
Why have our fees gone up?
Can I get a reduction in fees?
What is the low-GDP Bursary program?
Proposed Program
Monday, 9 June 2025
10am–noon & 1–3pm
1. Introductions. Basics & Alphabet, Reading Mechanics.
Welcome. Course overview.. Basic terminology. Learning to Read among the Ottomans.. Practice didactic Ottoman printed texts..
2. Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Change over Time.
Focus on available dictionaries and reference works (both Ottoman and contemporary). Reading dictionaries as primary sources. Discussions of semantic change and how to avoid anachronisms..
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
10am–noon & 1–3pm
3. XIX century.
Overview of xix century Ottoman handwriting. Sample texts. Standardization and paleographic skills.
4. Easy Scripts: xv-xix
Focus on clearer scripts. Common pitfalls and questions. Sample texts.
Wednesday, 11 June 2025
10am–noon & 1–3pm
5. Practice Reading xix century
Review of homework, trouble shooting one’s own reading. In-class review of other common texts and issues.
6. Practice reading easy scripts
Review of homework, common issues and mistakes. In-class review of similar texts.
Thursday, 12 June 2025
10am–noon & 1–3pm
7. Focus on other manuscript scripts
Practice reading common scripts in manuscripts, including marginalia, colophons, and notes of ownership.
8. Reading diplomacy and bureaucracy.
Overview of scripts used in diplomatic and bureaucratic documents. Sample readings.
Important dates:
Application period: 28 April 2025
Acceptance/stand by notifications: 5 May 2025
Full payment: 12 May 2025 (subject to extension for late applicants/ or pending grants)
NOTE: Numbers are limited; participants are encouraged to apply early.
Information
For general information regarding fees, enrollment, and administrative matters, contact the Mediterranean Seminar; for questions regarding seminar content and materials, contact the instructor directly.