Ceyda Karamursel

Ceyda Karamursel serves as Lecturer in Middle East History within the Department of History at SOAS University of London's School of History, Religions and Philosophies. Her academic journey began with a B.A. in Economics from Bogazici University (Istanbul), followed by M.A. and Ph.D. in History from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Middle East Center.

Specializing in the social, political, and legal history of the late Ottoman Empire and early Turkish Republic, Dr. Karamursel's research centers on slavery, freedom, and legal transformations. Her forthcoming book The Sack and the Bowstring: A Global History of Ottoman Slavery and Freedom examines how concepts of freedom and equality before the law emerged in Ottoman contexts. Additional projects investigate sewing machines' impact on Ottoman production relations, Ottoman-Greek property disputes, and transatlantic circulation of Ottoman slavery concepts.

Her publication record demonstrates remarkable thematic consistency across prestigious journals including International Journal of Middle East Studies, Comparative Studies in Society and History, and Journal of Women's History. Recent work analyzes abolitionism's complexities, harem politics, and property expropriation during imperial transitions.

• Social Science Research Council funding recipient
• Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation fellow

Dr. Karamursel supervises doctoral research on diverse Ottoman topics including leprosy exclusion in Cyprus, refugee discourse in humanitarian organizations, Ottoman Greek female intellectuals, and materiality in British Mandate Palestine. Her current projects bridge legal history, material culture studies, and global slavery frameworks while maintaining critical engagement with gender, race, and citizenship paradigms.