James Ryan
PhD Candidate
jamryan@sas.upenn.edu
Education
B.A., University of Chicago (2008)
Committee
Personal Statement
My research focuses on the intellectual, political and cultural transition between the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic. I am currently working on a dissertation proposal that assesses the contest over "modernity" in the early Turkish Republic between the state, the press, intellectual and literary figures on both the left and right side of the political spectrum. This project will analyze the way opposition figures reacted to revolutionary reforms under the Kemalist regime, adapting to increased pressure on the press, script reform and intensified ethnocentrism in the nation-building process.
