Gerald Maclean

Professor Gerald Maclean is a faculty member in the Department of English and Creative Writing at the University of Exeter, where he serves as founding co-director of Exeter Turkish Studies. His work bridges academia and cultural heritage through the Evliya Çelebi Way Project.

His research focuses on:

• Ottoman travel writing and pre-colonial Orientalism
• Early-modern English literature (Shakespeare, Milton, Restoration drama)
• Anglo-Ottoman cultural dialogues
• Textual criticism and editorial theory

Maclean pioneered historical reenactment research through equestrian expeditions tracing Evliya Çelebi's 17th-century routes, directly leading to UNESCO's 2011 designation of Turkey's first equestrian cultural route.

Key recognition:

• UNESCO naming Evliya Çelebi 'Man of the Year' (2011)
• Turkish government approval of Evliya Çelebi Way as national cultural route

Maclean actively supervises doctoral research on East-West cultural exchanges, with current projects examining Palestine in Anglophone fiction, Ottoman-Syrian travel writing, and Hollywood's portrayal of Islam. His Evliya Çelebi Ride (2009) generated extensive Turkish and international media coverage across BBC, Guardian, and Hurriyet.