Secil Yilmaz

I am a historian of sexuality, gender, and medicine of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. My research and teaching focus on the broad fields of social and intellectual history at the intersections of medical humanities, life sciences, feminist, and queer studies. In my research, I am interested in the formation of knowledge and practices concerning Life as a productive site of political and social encounters, confrontations, and negotiations among various agents in which power and hegemony are formed and nested. I trace the stories of uneven and unconventional engagements and interactions of global, local, and indigenous historical agents framed by colonialism, imperialism, and modern governance.

My book in-progress Biopolitical Empire: Syphilis, Medicine, and Sex in the Late Ottoman World analyzes the social and political implications of syphilis by tracing the questions of empire-building, colonialism, modern governance, and sexuality in the late Ottoman context. My other projects include research on the relationship between religion, history of emotions, and contagious diseases in the late Ottoman Empire as well as history of reproductive health technologies and humanitarianism in the modern Middle East.