Dr. Tunç Şen

Biography

Tunç Şen is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Columbia University, specializing in the history of the Ottoman Empire and its connections to the early modern world. His work involves exploring social and cultural histories and intellectual practices, with a focus on how people perceived their world through various frameworks of information, beliefs, and the various structures shaped by social, political, economic, and emotional factors. His forthcoming book, "Forgotten Experts: Astrologers, Science, Authority in the Ottoman Empire (1450-1600)," published by Stanford University Press, investigates the expertise and authority constructed by occult and scientific practitioners within the contested environment of the early modern imperial context. Şen is currently engaged in additional book projects examining the history of education and scholarly life in the early modern Ottoman world through the lenses of microhistory and emotions. His ongoing research includes the investigation of Islamic manuscripts of Ottoman origin that made their way to European collections during the early modern period. As a member of the international research project "Geographies Histories Ottoman Supernatural Tradition (GHOST)," funded by the European Research Council, he contributes to exploring the magical and marvelous in Ottoman mentalities. Before joining Columbia, he taught courses on Ottoman history and paleography at Leiden University.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards

Courses