معرفی
Lerna Ekmekcioglu is the McMillan-Stewart Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she teaches in the Department of History within the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS). She specializes in Middle Eastern history with a particular focus on the late Ottoman Empire, post-genocide Turkey, and minority politics, examining how Armenians—particularly women—navigated survival and belonging after empire and mass violence.
Her research interests span Armenian Genocide studies, women and gender in the Middle East, Ottoman history, race and ethnicity, and feminist history. She has made significant contributions to understanding Armenian feminist thought across generations and has worked to integrate Armenian perspectives into broader Ottoman and Turkish feminist historiography.
Professor Ekmekcioglu's scholarly work reveals consistent themes across her publications: the experiences of women during and after mass violence, the reconstruction of community identity in hostile environments, and the transnational dimensions of Armenian feminist thought. Her articles demonstrate a methodological approach that combines archival research with theoretical insights from gender studies, genocide studies, and postcolonial theory.
- 2016 Levitan Teaching Award in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS)
- Der Mugrdechian Society for Armenian Studies Outstanding Book Award for Recovering Armenia
As an educator, Professor Ekmekcioglu teaches courses on genocide and its aftermath, women and gender in the Middle East, and the global history of abortion. She organizes the Bi-annual McMillan-Stewart Lecture Series on women in the developing world. Her scholarly work has established her as a leading voice in Armenian Genocide studies and feminist history of the Middle East.
