Ali Yaycioglu

Ali Yaycioglu is an Associate Professor of History at Stanford University, where he also serves as Director of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern Studies Forum and is affiliated with the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. His work bridges Ottoman history, digital humanities, and transnational historical analysis.

• B.S., Middle East Technical University, International Relations (1994)
• M.A., Bilkent University, History (1997)
• Graduate Study, McGill University, Islamic Studies (1998)
• Ph.D., Harvard University, History and Middle Eastern Studies (2008)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University, Program in Hellenic Studies (2009)

Dr. Yaycioglu's research focuses on political, economic, and legal institutions of the Ottoman Empire, as well as its social and cultural dynamics from the 16th century to the present. He employs digital tools for historical visualization and analysis, particularly through projects like Mapping Ottoman Epirus and Charting the Empire, which utilize network analysis and big data to explore statehood, financial systems, and power structures.

His recent publications, including the Ottoman Digital Humanities Special Issue (2023), demonstrate his commitment to integrating digital humanities with traditional historical research. Projects such as The Order of Debt and State, Religion, and People analyze the interplay between capital, property, and state order in the 18th-19th centuries.

• Stanford Data Science Seed Grant Award (2018)

Dr. Yaycioglu oversees digital history initiatives like Charting the Empire and Mapping Ottoman Epirus, housed in Stanford’s Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA). His work connects historical Ottoman systems to contemporary debates on democracy, capitalism, and political settlements, as detailed in his opinion pieces for Gazete Oksijen and other media.