NEWS & FUTURE EVENTS

NEXT SEMINAR (TIOL4)

CALL FOR PAPERS

We invite proposals for contributions to the fourth TRAVELLERS IN OTTOMAN LANDS (TIOL4) Seminar. TIOL4 will be held in Thessaloniki, Greece from Wednesday 21 April to Saturday 24 April 2027.

The seminar is being organised jointly by Travellers in Ottoman Lands (TIOL) and the Levantine Heritage Foundation (LHF), with the University of Macedonia, and in association with the British School at Athens, Cornucopia and other sponsors.

Offers of abstracts are welcome on subjects relevant to travel to and from Thessaloniki (previously Salonica) as well as other Ottoman Lands during the Ottoman period, including – though not limited to:

Architecture and landscapes
Artist-travellers and early photographers
Diaspora and heritage
Ethnic and religious identities; cuisine; music
Horticulturalists and botanists
Inter-faith/inter-confessional relations in Ottoman Europe (and beyond)
Memorials, cemeteries
Places of worship of various faiths
Political travellers, freedom-fighters, Balkan nationalists, Young Turks
Ports, coasts and seascapes
Support networks: consulates, dragomans and merchants
Travellers at classical and archaeological sites
Women travellers

Three days of presentation sessions in Thessaloniki will be followed by one day of excursions.

The TIOL4 Seminar follows the successful Travellers in Ottoman Lands: The Botanical Legacy seminar (TIOL1) held in Edinburgh in 2017; Travellers in Ottoman Lands: The Balkans, Anatolia and Beyond seminar (TIOL2) held in Sarajevo in 2022; and Travellers in Ottoman Lands: Places forgotten, Places remembered (TIOL3), held in Istanbul in 2025.

Peer-reviewed papers from TIOL1and TIOL2 have already been published and the papers from TIOL3 are currently being prepared for publication.

Proposals may be submitted either for individual presentations of 20 minutes or for panels of 3-4 speakers of 20 minutes each. Please include a biography of no more than 200 words, presentation title and a 200-word abstract.

Proposals should be submitted by 15 November 2026 at the latest.

To submit your proposal please create a new account in CONFTOOL (link below) and follow the simple instructions.
https://travellersinottomanlands.com/conftool/

All proposals will be subject to peer review, and decisions on their acceptance will be announced by mid-January 2027.

Registration will open on 31 January 2027, when the draft Programme, Seminar fees, and details of the six student bursaries funded by the EES/ASTENE fund will also be available.

Please note that delegates will be responsible for making their own accommodation arrangements.

We welcome enquiries about the seminar itself via email to: travellersinottomanlands@gmail.com

On behalf of the TIOL/LHF Committee

DOWNLOAD THE CALL FOR PAPERS PDF
TIOL4 CfP

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Amy Singer
Sylvia K. Hassenfeld Chair in Islamic Studies and Professor of History, Department of History, Brandeis University, MA, USA

‘The Routes to Edirne: Reconstructing the Ottoman Capital through Travellers’ Eyes and through Eyes on Travellers’

Philip Mansel
Institute of Historical Research, London

‘Three Sultans in Salonica: Abdulmecid (1859); Abdulhamid (1909-12); Mehmed Reshad (1911), and the Politics of Travel in late Ottoman Rumeli’

PARTNERS

Levantine Heritage Foundation

RESEARCH . EDUCATION . PRESERVATION
The Levantine Heritage Foundation (LHF) promotes the research, preservation and education of the heritage, arts and culture of the communities of the Levant region encompassed by the former Ottoman Empire between the 17th and 20th centuries.
For further information go to www.levantineheritage.com

DEPARTMENT OF BALKAN, SLAVIC AND ORIENTAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF MACEDONIA (UOM), THESSALONIKI, GREECE

The Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Macedonia is an interdisciplinary academic department based in Thessaloniki, Greece, and part of the School of Economic and Regional Studies of the University of Macedonia. Established in 1996, it specialises in the study of the languages, histories, cultures and societies of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and beyond.

The Department promotes a multidisciplinary approach to area studies, bringing together perspectives from history, politics, economics, international relations and cultural studies. Through its research, teaching and language training, it contributes to a deeper understanding of the region and of the historical and contemporary connections between these areas and Greece.
https://www.uom.gr/en

The British School at Athens

An institute for advanced research
Founded in 1886, the BSA is a UK-registered charity and is one of nine British International Research Institutes that receive annual funding from the British Academy. The School exists to promote research of international excellence in all disciplines pertaining to Greek lands, from fine art to archaeometry and in all periods to modern times.
https://www.bsa.ac.uk/about-us/

EGYPT EXPLORATION SOCIETY

The EES mission is to support and promote Egyptian cultural heritage, envisaging a world where the cultural heritage of Egypt is preserved for posterity. The EES has made available six bursaries for TIOL4 from the EES/ASTENE Fund.
https://www.ees.ac.uk/

British Institute at Ankara (BIAA)

The BIAA supports, enables and encourages research in Türkiye and the Black Sea region across the arts, humanities and social sciences. For further information about the BIAA at Ankara go to https://biaa.ac.uk/

An important collaborative project on ‘Ottoman Mobilities and Interactions’
The project investigates the dynamics of mobility—of people, ideas, objects, cultural/artistic forms and institutions—across the Ottoman Empire. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches and transregional perspectives, we aim to deepen our understanding of how mobility shaped imperial governance, social transformations, cultural production and cross-border interactions within and beyond Ottoman domains. For further information about the project go to https://www.facebook.com/reel/2291663424583714 and to https://biaa.ac.uk/research/ottoman-mobilities-and-interactions/

British Association for Turkish Area Studies (BATAS)

The British Association for Turkish Area Studies aims to bring together and provide a forum for people interested in and keen to know more about Turkish life, society, history, language and culture.
batas.org.uk

Cornucopia Magazine

Published twice a year Cornucopia is an ever-growing compendium of all things Turkish: history, culture, art, food, travel. 
www.cornucopia.net