Faculty Lecturer
Coordinator, Turkish Language Program
Veysel 艦im艧ek teaches modern Turkish and Ottoman Turkish at 91社区. Previously, he taught these languages in Turkey and Canada to various groups of students from Turkish and other backgrounds. He also has considerable experience with translating and publishing documents, manuscripts, and printed material in Ottoman Turkish. Prior to his current appointment at the Institute of Islamic Studies, he held a Chauncey Postdoctoral Fellowship with International Security Studies of Yale University (2016-18), and served as a postdoctoral research fellow and interim codirector of the Indian Ocean World Centre (IOWC) of 91社区 (2015-16). His research interests include political, social, and intellectual history of the late Ottoman Empire and the early Turkish Republic (c. 1750鈥�1950), and he has taught various courses on Ottoman, Middle Eastern and World History at Yale, McMaster, and Bilkent.
Education
2015 PhD, History, McMaster University, Canada
2005 MA, History, Bilkent University, Turkey
2002 BSc, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
Fall-Winter Semesters
ISLA 232/632D Introductory Turkish
ISLA 333/633D Lower Intermediate Turkish
ISLA 434/634D Higher-Intermediate Turkish
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Winter Semester
ISLA 560 Ottoman Turkish
For questions and syllabi, don鈥檛 hesitate toveysel.simsek [at] mcgill.ca ( contact me by email).听
Here鈥檚 also , its history, development, and basic grammar rules:
Introduction; Turkish Speaking Populations of the World
History of the Turkish Language
Ottoman Turkish
General Remarks on the Turkish Grammar
Some Administrative Notes on the Turkish Courses offered at 91社区
Closing Remarks on the Turkish Culture, History, and People
Refereed Publications
Books/Edited Volumes
(with Frank Castiglioni and Ethan Menchinger) eds., Ottoman War and Peace: Studies in Honor of Virginia H. Aksan. Leiden: Brill, 2019: xxvi+448
(with Virginia H. Aksan) eds., 鈥淟iving Empire: Ottoman Identities in Transition, 1700鈥�1850.鈥� Special issue, The Journal of Ottoman Studies, no. 44 (2014): 9鈥�501
Journal Articles and Book Chapters
鈥淢ercenaries and Conscripts: Ottoman Infantry, c. 1750-1920.鈥� In 鈥淚nfantry Warfare from Ancient Times to Today.鈥� Special Issue. Societ脿 Italiana di Storia Militare (forthcoming in 2026)
鈥淰isualizing the Ottoman Menzils and Travel Times (c. 1830) through Digital Tools.鈥� In 鈥淧utting the Ottomans on the Map.鈥� Special Issue. International Journal of Turkish Studies (forthcoming in 2025)
鈥淯nder Fire and Lice: Experiences of an Ottoman Soldier in World War I and the Turkish War of Independence (1919鈥�1922)鈥� in Ottoman War and Peace: Ottoman War and Peace: Studies in Honor of Virginia H. Aksan, eds. Frank Castiglioni, Ethan Menchinger and Veysel Simsek (Leiden: Brill, 2019): 143鈥�156
鈥溾�楤ackstabbing Arabs鈥� and 鈥楽hirking Kurds鈥�: History, Nationalism, and Turkish Memory of World War I.鈥� In The Great War: From Memory to History, eds. Jonathan Vance et al. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2015: 99鈥�126
鈥淭he First 鈥楲ittle Mehmeds鈥�: Conscripts for the Ottoman Army, 1826鈥�53.鈥� The Journal of Ottoman Studies, no. 44 (2014): 265鈥�311
Other Publications
鈥淥smanl谋 陌mparatorlu臒u鈥檔da D眉zenli Ordu i莽in Asker Toplanmas谋: 1826鈥�1853鈥� [Recruitment for the Regular Army in the Ottoman Empire: 1826鈥�1853]. Toplumsal Tarih [Social History, Istanbul], no. 198 (2010): 36鈥�42
Transcription of selected early nineteenth鈥揷entury Ottoman constitutional texts. In 1815鈥�1847, vol. 2 of Quellen zur Europ盲ischen Verfassungsgeschichte im 19. Jahrhundert [Handbook of European Constitutional History in the Nineteenth Century]. Bonn: J. H. W Dietz Nachfolger, 2010. CD鈥揜OM
Holbrook, Victoria, 鈥淗眉sn鈥撁� A艧k鈥檃 脰ns枚z.鈥� Trans. Veysel Simsek and Emrah Pelvano臒lu. Yasakmeyve, no. 12 (2005): 52鈥�59
Ongoing Digital Humanities Projects
Visualizing the pilgrimage routes and travel times in the Indian Ocean World, c. 1500鈥�1900
Visualizing the road/messenger networks in the Balkans and the Middle East, c. 1830
Creating animated battlemaps featuring the Ottomans鈥� 鈥淟ong Great War鈥� in the Balkans and the Middle East, 1912鈥�1922
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