Musa Kazım Azimli
Doctoral Guest Researcher
Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies
April 2026–May 2026 and July 2026
Niebuhrstr. 5
D-53113 Bonn
University of Virginia, US
musaazimli@gmail.com
Title of current research project: "The Imperial Slave Market in Istanbul"
Academic Profile
My dissertation project explores the history of the Imperial Slave Market in Istanbul through multiple analytical layers, drawing on the interdisciplinary methods from spatial, legal, cultural, architectural, and digital history. In my research, I aim to reconstruct the market’s architectural structure and spatial organization using both historical sources and digital tools, examine its socio-economic role within the Ottoman imperial capital, and trace how functions and meanings of this space shifted over time. I am particularly interested in the human experiences and perceptions embedded in this space, as reflected in both local and foreign accounts, and analyzing them through both macro and micro historical approaches.
2023–2028
PhD in History, University of Virginia, US
2021–2023
Digital Humanities Certificate Program, University of Virginia, US
2021–2023
MA in History, University of Virginia, US
2018–2022
MA in Comparative Studies in History and Society, Koç University, Turkey
2017
Exchange Student, Department of History, Ghent University, Belgium
2013–2018
BA in History, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
since 08/2022
Teaching Assistant, Department of History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, US
05–07/2021
Research Assistant, Department of History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, US
06–09/2019
Research Assistant, International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam
Research Project: Naval Shipyards: Laboratories of Capitalism
02/2019–06/2020
Teaching Assistant, Department of History, Koç University, Istanbul