Theo Knights

@theoknights.bsky.social

PhD Student of early modern Ottoman history. Social historian interested in commerce, customs, and corruption in Ottoman lands.

Update: In a statement, Bonn University confirms the renaming of the Otto Spies Memorial Series because of the archival material I quoted in my blogpost. In the meantime, the local newspaper Bonner General-Anzeiger published an article on the issue as well. www.ioa.uni-bonn.de/isl/de/nachr...

Bonner General-Anzeiger, 15.12.2025New name for the Publication Series: Ottoman Studies Publication Series (OSPS)
Vincent E.@vincente.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I wrote a blog post explaining why I consider an honour for the orientalist Otto Spies (1901-1981) problematic, based on correspondence I examined in Berlin this summer: disorient.de/magazin/trot...

This is really startling! I have found that Bonn's memorial lecture series and publication provides accessible introductions to topics at the forefront of research in Ottoman studies. For Monday I had even assigned Faroqhi's contribution on Ottoman slavery to an intro course I am teaching. 1/3

Vincent E.@vincente.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I wrote a blog post explaining why I consider an honour for the orientalist Otto Spies (1901-1981) problematic, based on correspondence I examined in Berlin this summer: disorient.de/magazin/trot...

My first peer-reviewed article, based on my BA thesis at FU Berlin, has just been published (OA). It traces Palestinian libraries from the late Ottoman period in the so-called Abandoned Property Collection (NLI). Thank you to everyone who supported! doi.org/10.1353/mns.... @sims-mss.bsky.social

Project MUSE - From Private Libraries in Late Ottoman Palestine to "Abandoned Property": Reconstructing the Dajānī Family Manuscript Collections in the National Library of Israel

doi.org

Excited to share the CfP for the Middle East History and Theory Conference at UChicago, May 2–3, 2025. Organized by Sharidan Russell! This year's theme: Conceiving Time & Navigating Space: Spatiotemporal Engagements in the Middle East & North Africa. theoknights.com/mehat/2024/1...

39th Annual Middle East History and Theory Conference — Call for Papers

We are excited to announce that the 39th Annual Middle East History and Theory Conference (MEHAT) will take place at The University of Chicago on May 2-3, 2025

theoknights.com

The prof’s reasoning also just seems illogical here? She “wrote” the txtbook so she doesn’t have to spend time lecturing abt historical context and can focus on the texts. Except when are the students going to read the texts now if they’re spending all their time reading the txtbook? In class lol?

Christine Kooi@christinekooi.bsky.social · 2y ago

UCLA is creating an entirely AI-generated course. Except apparently the grading won't be AI-generated. 🤔 newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/comp...

I thought I'd share the reading list I developed over the last 9 months while prepping for my Islamicate History comp. The list was conceived as a critical homage to Hodgson's project in The Venture of Islam from the perspective of social history and history from below.

Islamicate History Syllabus: A Socio-Historical Approach

This syllabus offers a critical homage, from the perspective of social history and history from below, to Marshall Hodgson's project of writing a "general history of Islamicate civilization,&...

academia.edu

The questions Marshall Hodgson was asked in 1951 for his written comprehensive exam in Social Thought are preserved in his papers. He completed the exam near the end of his PhD and it appears he was rather tired of writing about the Nizaris.

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