{"id":1800,"date":"2026-04-15T17:17:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/?p=1800"},"modified":"2026-04-15T17:17:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:17:37","slug":"nit-newsletter-2026-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nit-istanbul.net\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/nit-newsletter-2026-1\/","title":{"rendered":"NIT Newsletter 2026 – 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spring is slowly returning to Istanbul, fellows and research interns are making exciting discoveries, collaborations are taking shape, and new projects are on the horizon. We are excited to share the highlights of the past few months with you and to give you a glimpse of what is coming up. Stay tuned to NIT’s website and social media for upcoming announcements, events, and deadlines. There is much to look forward to.
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Upcoming Deadlines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Apply for NIT Autumn 2026 Fellowships!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Photo by ugurhan\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the autumn of 2026, NIT offers two types of fellowships for a research stay at the Netherlands Institute in Turkey (Istanbul). The application deadline is 15 June 2026<\/strong>. Please go here <\/a>for more information about the fellowships and the application form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Residential Fellowships<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NIT offers four residential fellowships for the autumn of 2026. This fellowship offer includes free accommodation in an apartment near the institute and 24\/7 access to the NIT library for a period of four weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deadline for applications: 15 June 2026<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellowship periods<\/strong>
Period 1: 15 September – 13 October 2026 (2 fellowships)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Period 2: 14 October – 12 November 2026 (2 fellowships)
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Non-Residential Fellowships<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NIT offers two non-residential fellowships during the autumn of 2026. This fellowship includes an allowance of 400 Euros for travel and living expenses and 24\/7 access to the NIT library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Deadline for applications: 15 June 2026<\/strong><\/strong>

Fellowship period<\/strong>
One month or longer between 15 September and 31 December 2026. Non-residential fellowships are reserved for researchers who plan to spend at least one month conducting research in Istanbul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Anatolica 53 (2027) Call for Contributions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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We are accepting submissions for the 53rd issue of Anatolica to appear in Spring 2027. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Details regarding the journal, submission process, and style guidelines can be found on\u00a0https:\/\/www.nit-istanbul.org\/publication\/anatolica<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inquiries regarding editorial matters can be sent to our editorial team at an*******<\/span>@**********<\/span>ul.org<\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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NIT Fellowships<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NIT 2026 Spring Fellows<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the spring of 2026, the NIT library welcomed six fellows working on a range of topics from zooarchaeology to Sufism. As always, fellows presented their findings in a ‘library talk’ for the NIT community, and wrote a blog post for NIT’s blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sara Hutchinson<\/strong> (University of Groningen) focuses on animal management and human-animal relationships at Late Bronze Age Troy (VIIa\/b) through zooarchaeological data in her project, The Political Economy of Late Bronze Age Troy (VIIa\/b): A Zooarchaeological Perspective on Local Economies<\/em>. By analyzing largely unstudied faunal assemblages, she aims to reconstruct local economic organization and environmental adaptation in Western Anatolia during a period of major cultural disruption and collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Laura van Alfen<\/strong> (Leiden University), in her research Secularizing at Home, Sacralizing Abroad: Turkey\u2019s Use of Sufi Heritage in Domestic and Transnational Contexts<\/em>, compares how Sufi sacred sites in Turkey and Albania have been transformed into heritage monuments, national symbols, and diplomatic tools. She investigates how political systems alternately contain, activate, and instrumentalize sacred space and religious authority.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Rebeca Ramos Vital <\/strong>(Radboud University) compares the ethics and spatial dimensions of tourism in Brazilian favelas and in marginalized Istanbul neighborhoods such as Tarlaba\u015f\u0131 and Balat. It analyzes how poverty and urban inequality are aestheticized for touristic consumption across distinct racial, historical, and socio-political contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Check King Tay<\/strong> (Leiden University) examines the British Seamen’s Hospital in nineteenth-century Istanbul as a site of shifting identities, exploring how legal and urban reforms reshaped patient demographics, staff relations, and institutional growth in his project, Placing Identities at the British Seamen\u2019s Hospital in Istanbul, 1855-1904<\/em>. It investigates tensions between British merchants and consular staff, Ottoman property laws, and how financial surpluses paradoxically failed to enable hospital expansion until 1904. You can read his blog post about his research stay in Istanbul here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Burak F\u0131\u00e7\u0131<\/strong>‘s (Erasmus University) project, Rebuilding Narratives: Urban Discourse and Civic Response in 18th-Century Valencia and Izmir<\/em>, compares how public opinion and civic engagement developed in Valencia, Spain, and \u0130zmir, Ottoman Empire, following the earthquakes of 1748 and 1739 respectively. Challenging Habermasian models, Burak explores how monarchical and confessional Southern European empires fostered public negotiation through political discourse, local elites, citizenship, and religious institutions. You can read Burak’s report on his research here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecem Co\u015fan<\/strong> (University of Groningen), in her PhD project, Building a Silk Archive: Tracing Labor, Space, and Non-Human Actors Across the Mediterranean Silk Networks (17th\u201319th Century)<\/em>, examines how silk production transformed rural landscapes, labor structures, and ecosystems across Bursa, Como, and Mount Lebanon. Moving beyond silk as a luxury commodity, Ecem explores mulberry monocultures, village reorganization, gendered labor, and environmental impact, tracing how human and non-human actors shaped Mediterranean sericulture networks over three centuries.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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News from the NIT Staff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Internships<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NIT currently hosts a new intern, Niek Engelhart (Utrecht University), who is conducting research on the Ferik\u00f6y Protestant Cemetery Archive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Hi, I am Niek Engelhart and between March and June, I will be the research intern at the NIT as part of my research master\u2019s degree in history at Utrecht University. During my stay, I will conduct research into the Dutch section at the Ferik\u00f6y Protestant Cemetery. I will compile a list of all Dutch nationals buried at the cemetery since 1859 and create a visitor\u2019s guide for the cemetery for those whowish to visit the Dutch section!<\/em> “<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Anatolica 51 (2025)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In early 2026, Anatolica 51 was published. The journal, which focuses on archaeological and historical research in Anatolia and surrounding regions, is edited by Fokke Gerritsen, G\u00fcl\u015fah G\u00fcnata and Aysel Arslan. Volume 52 will be published in the fall of 2026. Anatolica is published by Peeters in Leuven and appears in print and online. Issues (back issues open access until 2023) can be found here: https:\/\/poj.peeters-leuven.be\/content.php<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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NIT Annual Report 2025<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We are happy to announce that NIT’s Annual Report for 2025 is now out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This report gives a brief overview of NIT\u2019s activities in 2025. It showcases the wide scope of its programs, relating to research, education, and social impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read NIT’s Annual Report 2025 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Recent and Upcoming Activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SIB-Groningen Student Association’s Visit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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On 13 April, we hosted twenty students from the SIB-Groningen Student Association who visited NIT. We informed them about NIT’s activities and programs and the NIT Intern Niek presented his ongoing research on the Dekkers family buried at the Ferik\u00f6y Protestant Cemetery.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Hubs, networks and trajectories. The making of global cooperation in the humanities in Istanbul and beyond Joint Lecture Series<\/h3>\n\n\n
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A new lecture series entitled Hubs, networks and trajectories. <\/strong>The making of global cooperation in the humanities in Istanbul and beyond,<\/strong> <\/span>exploring global cooperation in the humanities, was launched on February 12, 2026. This joint lecture series is organized in partnership with the Liszt Institute the Hungarian Cultural Center, the American Research Institute (ARIT), the Deutsches Arch\u00e4ologisches Institut (DAInst), the Institut fran\u00e7ais d\u2019\u00e9tudes anatoliennes (IFEA), the Netherlands Institute in Turkey, the Orient-Institut Istanbul, and the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (SRII).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inaugural lecture of this series was presented by G\u00e1bor Fodor, entitled A Scientific Hub of Central Powers in the WWI’s Ottoman Capital: The Hungarian Science Initiative in Constantinople<\/em> at the Liszt Institute \u2013 Hungarian Cultural Center in Istanbul. The lecture series will continue throughout the year, featuring many lectures, including one by Ozan \u00d6zavc\u0131 (Utrecht University) on The Great Games of Pandemics. Sanitary Internationalism in the Middle East and North Africa, 1792-1942,<\/em> on June 11. Further details about the lecture series will be available on NIT’s website soon.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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K\u00fct\u00fcphanelerde \u0130\u015f Birli\u011fi BiblioPera: Beyo\u011flu Ara\u015ft\u0131rma Merkezleri A\u011f\u0131 S\u00f6yle\u015fisi \/ Collaboration in Libraries \u2014 BiblioPera: Beyo\u011flu Research Centers Network Talk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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As part of the 62nd National Library Week, a talk that focuses on collaboration in libraries and inter-institutional collective practices, drawing on the work of\u00a0BiblioPera: Beyo\u011flu Research Centers Network<\/em> was organized on April 2, 2026. As a part of the talk, \u0130rem \u00dcnal from the NIT\/ANAMED Libraries presented how the Bibliopera network was conceived and shared insights into the collaboration between ANAMED and NIT.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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