Lale Can

Associate Professor of History

Empire of Exile: Forced Labor and Banishment in Late Ottoman History

Empire of Exile sets out to examine how one of the world's most important empires—the Ottoman (1299-1922)—used forced labor and banishment to punish criminals and dissidents, creating what I term a culture of exile. In contrast to scholarship focusing on modern institutions such as prisons and elites in exile, this project highlights the capacious nature of these interconnected forms of criminal punishment and their impact on wide cross-sections of Ottoman society. By decentering institutional mimesis of the West and examining a range of carceral practices that involved violent forced mobility, this study allows us to see the messy, hybrid practices that shaped the lives of people who challenged the social and political order in the last century of Ottoman rule.

Hajoe Moderegger

Program Director, Digital & Interdisciplinary Art Practice [DIAP] MFA Professor, Art Department

Our Non-Understanding of Everything

Our Non-Understanding of Everything, which consists of scientific research, artistic creation and experiments with different forms of presentation and audience engagement. The 1st segment of the work has just been exhibited at “Current Plans” a gallery in Hong Kong, a 2nd segment is scheduled to open on March 25th for an exhibition at “PS 122” gallery in New York.