Thomas Kuehn

Thomas Kuehn is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Simon Fraser University. His primary affiliations include the Department of History with specialization in Middle East, Africa and Asia studies. He teaches courses like HIST 354 (Imperialism and Modernity in the Middle East) and HIST 457 (The Turkish Republic: Politics, Society, and Culture).

His research focuses on state formation, governance, and knowledge production in the late Ottoman Empire (1700-1923), with particular emphases on Yemen's integration into the empire. He examines themes such as cultural imperialism, comparative colonialism, and nationalism in the Modern Middle East.

Key publications include the monograph Empire, Islam, and Politics of Difference (2011), which reinterprets Ottoman colonial strategies in Yemen, and articles analyzing military attire symbolism, borderland governance, and administrative practices. His work bridges Ottoman history with broader imperial and colonial frameworks.

Dr. Kuehn accepts graduate students interested in identity politics, political Islam, and secularism in modern Turkey and Iran. He has supervised research on topics intersecting nationalism, colonial governance, and cultural dynamics in the Middle East.