3rd International Congress of Pontic Studies with the general title: “Pontus in the late Ottoman Empire (1774-1908): Society and Economy”, Thessaloniki, 18-20 November 2016 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

The Department of Modern and Contemporary History, Folklore, and Social Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy, School of History and Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

The Department of Church History, Christian Literature, Archaeology and Art. Faculty of Theology, School of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Organize the 3^rd International Congress of Pontic Studies with the general title:

“Pontus in the late Ottoman Empire (1774-1908): Society and Economy”,

Thessaloniki, 18-20 November 2016

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Call for papers

The economic, social and political changes in the Ottοman Empire, which, under the relentless European pressure, especially after the second half of the 18^th century, necessitated the need for reforms, decisively affected the life of the residents in the area of Pontus. The freedom of navigation in the Black sea revitalized the shipping traffic to the local ports. Samsun became the most important export hub for the inland products, while Trebizond transformed into the largest retailing centre for exported goods coming from Persia, as well as for the import of manufactured products from Western Europe.

Apart from the demographic changes and turbulences, that is to say the forced resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Muslims from Caucasus, caused by the military conflicts between the bordering Orthodox Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire during the same period, the vicinity of the Russian state constituted a continuous challenge and invitation for the Greeks and the Armenians of Pontus to migrate. Moreover, the activities of Catholic and Protestant missionaries in the land of Pontus occasionally caused further upheavals among the local Orthodox and Armenian communities.

The presence of foreigners in the region, their economic and political competitions, the decline of the central authority, and the strengthening of the national identity of the Christian population, foreboded the forthcoming developments.

The objective of this International Conference is the scientific approach to issues associated with the multiple effects and aftereffects of the aforementioned changes, with the aim of giving an opportunity to both old and new scholars to discuss the findings of their recent studies, to illuminate uncharted so far fields and to get answers to new questions.

The Organizing Committee encourage scholars to submit papers which fall under the following main topics:

Subject areas: 

• Population stratification, Ethnic groups, Ottoman citizens, Citizens of foreign countries, Protégés
• Demographic Data-Population movements
• Religious organization, Foreign propaganda, Christian confessions
• Ideological trends
• Collective organization of millets
• Press and publications
• Diplomatic representation-Consulates
• Trade: Commercial networks-foreign merchant houses-delegations
• Land and Peasant
• Manufacturing
• Industries
• Banking

The Organizing Committee is particularly interested in papers dealing with the various ethnic and religious communities of the specific region.

Proposals must be sent by email to pontusthess@gmail.com. The deadline for the submission of proposals is 10 May 2016.

For any correspondence with conference organisers, use email pontusthess@gmail.com unless specified otherwise.

The proposals will be examined by the Scientific Committee of the Congress. The results of the selection process will be announced by 30 May 2016.

The conference official languages will be Greek and English.

All costs of the participants as of travel, accommodation, and meals will be provided by the Organizers.

When submitting your paper, indicate which conference sub-theme you think could best accommodates your paper. Note, however, that we reserve the right to place your paper under a different sub-theme if the placement seems more appropriate in the context of other papers.

All Abstracts should not exceed 300 words and must clearly define:

- the objective of the contribution, its context and method
- two or more sources on which the contribution is built
-  the innovative character of the contribution by indicating where it goes beyond what is already in the common domain.

Abstracts may be composed in any of the accepted Conference languages.

Conference website

The registration details and all relevant information about the conference will be posted on the conference website as it becomes available. For updates about accommodation, meals, tours, travel etc.  regularly visit the conference  website.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Thessaloniki!

The Department of Modern and Contemporary History, Folklore, and Social Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy, School of History and Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

The Department of Church History, Christian Literature, Archaeology and Art. Faculty of Theology, School of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Organize the 3^rd International Congress of Pontic Studies with the general title:

“Pontus in the late Ottoman Empire (1774-1908): Society and Economy”,

Thessaloniki, 18-20 November 2016

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

REGISTRATION FORM

Name:

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Paper title:

Paper language:

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Abstract (max. 300 words):

If your paper falls under one of the sub-topics proposed by the organizers, please specify (optional):